Indonesia admitted to UN security council
Indonesia admitted to UN security council
UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): Indonesia, current chairman of the
Non-Aligned Movement, was elected by the United Nations General
Assembly on Thursday to serve on the Security Council for a two-
year term beginning next January.
Germany, Italy, Botswana and Honduras were also voted in
during a plenary session of the assembly.
Each candidate was unopposed in its regional group,
essentially ensuring each country's election by the Assembly.
Indonesia obtained 164 votes in the 184-member assembly,
Germany 164 votes; Italy 167; Botswana 168 and Honduras 170.
Ambassador Nugroho Wisnumurti, who heads the Indonesian
Permanent Representative Office at the United Nations, hailed the
vote "as a recognition of our diplomatic role in international
forums," the Antara news agency reported yesterday.
In addition to Jakarta's intensive lobbying efforts launched
during the last two years to win international support, Nugroho
pointed out that the role Indonesia has played in the Non-Aligned
Movement undoubtedly helped their candidacy.
Indonesia has been heading the 111-nation movement for the
last two years.
Indonesia replaces Pakistan as the representative of Asia on
the 15-member council. Germany and Italy replaced Spain and New
Zealand as representatives of the group known as West European
and Others, Botswana takes Djibouti's place as African
representative while Honduras succeeds Brazil as representative
of the Latin America and the Caribbean group.
The 15-member council consists of five permanent members, with
the power of veto -- the United States, Russia, Britain, China
and France -- and 10 non-permanent members who each serve two
years. The other five non-permanent members, whose terms expire
at the end of 1995, are the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Oman, Rwanda
and Argentina.
The council's membership next January will be heavily oriented
towards Europe, particularly the European Union, since Germany,
Italy, France and Britain will be serving simultaneously, along
with Russia and the Czech Republic.
Germany was last a council member in 1987-88, when Italy also
held a seat. Indonesia's only previous service on the council was
in 1973-74. This is the first time Botswana and Honduras have
been elected.
Stronger
Nugroho said he believed that Indonesia would have a stronger
presence on the Security Council than 20 years ago, this time in
representing the interests of developing countries and non-
aligned members in their endeavor to promote international peace.
In the 1970s, Indonesia's role was kept to a minimum because
permanent members of the council were confronting cold war
tensions, resorting continually to their power of veto and
counter veto, he recalled.
He added that the Indonesian Permanent Representative Office
to the UN will be expanded with additional staff in anticipation
of Indonesia's involvement in the Security Council activities.
A UN committee studying an increase in the size of the Council
recently agreed that it should be expanded but has not yet
reached any conclusions about how many seats should be added or
whether any of them should be permanent.
A number of countries have called for allowing Germany and
Japan to hold permanent seats on the policy making Security
Council. Developing countries such as Nigeria, Brazil, India and
Egypt have expressed interest in such status as well.
Diplomatic sources here said Germany was hoping for an
agreement on reforming the council before Dec. 31, 1997, to allow
it to transform its non-permanent seat into a permanent one.
Diplomats from non-aligned countries expressed concerns about
the disproportionate representation of Europe on the council
which takes effect in 1995.
Germany and Italy will join France and Britain, both
permanent members.