Panel puts two proposals for UNSC reform

Panel puts two proposals for UNSC reform

Agencies,
United Nations/Vientiane/Jakarta

A high-level panel on reforming the United Nations has proposed
two models for enlarging the United Nations Security Council,
according to a major report obtained by Reuters on Monday.

After a decade of failed approaches, Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, who appointed the panel of 16 men and women, wants UN
members to act on one of the two proposals in 2005.

The report, due to be released on Thursday, suggests
increasing members of the council -- the most powerful UN body,
whose decisions can be mandatory -- from 15 to 24 members.

Formed on the ruins of World War II, the council has five
permanent members with veto power -- the United States, Britain,
France, China and Russia, considered the war victors in 1945.
Another 10 countries now rotate for two-year terms.

But colonial empires have vanished since 1945; one-time
enemies, Germany and Japan, are active members of the United
Nations, and the broader UN membership is dominated by developing
countries.

The new report said the council's decision-making process had
to be "more representative of the broader membership, especially
of the developing world."

The report criticized the five permanent members for modest
financial and military contributions compared to their special
status. At the same time, it said the council was the body in the
United Nations "most capable of organizing action and capable of
responding rapidly to new threats."

The two proposals to revamp the council are:

-- Six new permanent members without veto power: two from
Asia, two from Africa, one from Europe and one from the Americas,
plus three new nonpermanent members for a two-year term for a
total of 24 seats.

Germany, which has made common cause with Japan, Brazil and
India for four of the seats, intends to introduce a resolution in
the General Assembly for this plan within the next month or so,
diplomats said. The contest for Africa's two seats is between
Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which argues that an Arab nation
needs a permanent member.

-- The second recommendation is for eight seats in a new class
of members, who would serve for four years, subject to renewal.
They would include 2 each from Africa, Asia, Europe and the
Americas. In addition, this plan foresees one nonpermanent two-
year seat for a total of 24.

This proposal is supported by countries which have little
chance for permanent membership and oppose leading contenders.

Italy, which does not want to be the only large European
country without a permanent council seat, opposes Germany;
Pakistan opposes India; and Mexico and Argentina oppose Brazil, a
Portuguese-speaking country in a largely Spanish-speaking
continent.

Any change of the council membership needs approval from two-
thirds of the 191-member General Assembly and no veto from the
council's permanent members.

In September, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda had expressed the country's ambition for a permanent
seat on the Security Council during the UN General Assembly
session.

Hassan said moderate Islam must be given a voice on the
council, adding that Indonesia, as a democratic Muslim state,
could be that voice.

Meanwhile, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
leaders on Tuesday backed Japan's bid to become a permanent
member of the United Nations Security Council, an official said.

ASEAN gave its support during a meeting between Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his counterparts from the 10-
member regional grouping on the final day of an ASEAN summit in
Laos.

A Southeast Asian foreign ministry official who did not want
to be identified said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi told the meeting Japan was "well placed" to seek a seat in
the Security Council and that ASEAN was giving its support.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra also said Thailand "fully
supports" Japan's bid for the Security Council seat, the official
said.

Yong Chanthalangsy, the summit's spokesman, said Japan's
candidacy had the support of "most ASEAN leaders". He did not
elaborate.

Britain, France and Russia have indicated their support of
Germany, Brazil, India and Japan. China has doubts about Japan,
which pays nearly as much in dues as the United States.

The Bush administration has pointedly refrained from
supporting Germany, which opposed the Iraq war, speaking only of
support for Japan.

The 16-member panel, which has 100 proposals for reforming the
world body, is chaired by Anand Panyarachun, a former Thai prime
minister. It includes Brent Scowcroft, a former U.S. national
security adviser; Yevgeni Primakov, a former Russian prime
minister; Qian Qichen, a former Chinese foreign minister, and Amr
Moussa, the Egyptian head of the Arab League.