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.