Pakistan calls for flexibility on UNSC reforms

NEW YORK: Pakistan called for flexibility to achieve the required consensus among all United Nations member states to break the impasse in the long-running negotiations to restructure the Security Council.

“The principle and the single most important requirement is flexibility on part of all groups and all member states, to try to accommodate each others’ positions,” Pakistan ambassador at UN Munir Akram said as the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) — a group states working to reform the UNSC — resumed on Monday.

“It is only by building consensus that we can breathe new life in the IGN process,” Akram told delegates, amid a continuing campaign by the Group of four — India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan — for permanent seats at the permanent body.

The ambassador said that Pakistan, which is a member of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, remains opposed to additional members in an enlarged Security Council but seeks expansion in the two-year non-permanent category.

“We do not believe in enlarging the ‘centres of privilege’ through the permanent membership of the Security Council, which was the subject of objection by many members,” he said, noting that they had caused a major impediment to efficient functioning and decision-making in the council.

“Expansion in the permanent membership would not be a solution to the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Security Council,” the Pakistan envoy said. “As we have said before, the problem cannot be the solution.”

The UfC group, he added, was committed to an equitable enlargement of the Security Council, in particular to enlarging the representation of those regions, which are underrepresented and have been historically discriminated against during the course of history.

Full-scale negotiations to reform the UNSC began in the General Assembly in 2009 on five key areas — the categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the General Assembly.

Despite a general agreement on enlarging the council, as part of the UN reform process, member states remain divided over the details.

The G4 countries have shown no flexibility in their push for expanding the Council by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four non-permanent members.

On the other hand, the UfC group has proposed a new category of members — not permanent members — with a longer duration in terms and a possibility of re-election.

The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US — and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.

In his remarks, Akram underscored the need for consensus among the membership of the General Assembly in order to have the ability to affect the Charter amendment, which is required to be adopted by the large majority as well as by all permanent members of the Security Council, to accomplish the reform.

On its part, the ambassador said, the UfC, had demonstrated considerable flexibility, pointing out that the group had presented proposals and offered ideas to achieve consensus.

“Unfortunately,”, he said, “we have not seen a similar spirit of flexibility on behalf of certain other groups.”

“The UfC has displayed and will continue to work in a spirit of compromise and consensus.”

Amid the existing divergences in the approach to reshaping the Security Council, Akram urged IGN co-chairs — ambassadors of Poland and Qatar — to broaden the areas of convergence.

In this regard, he noted considerable convergence in two issues — the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly and the size and working methods of the Security Council.

He said that there was also agreement on equitably enhancing the representation of under-represented regions — especially from Africa, Asia, and Latin America — and for enhancing transparency and inclusiveness in the Security Council’s work and decision-making.

In addition, he said that there was a convergence that the size of an enlarged Council should be around 25 members, with no opposition to its expansion in the non-permanent category.

“All these are important building blocks towards a comprehensive consensus on Security Council Reform,” the ambassador said.

He hoped these convergences would be reflected in an updated paper from the co-chairs, saying: “This is the text we are looking forward to.”

ENLARGEMENT NEEDED:

The Security Council’s composition largely reflects the balance of power shortly after World War Two, and most members agree it needs enlarging to reflect present-day realities.

But regional rivalries and the big powers’ desire to avoid dilution of their preeminence are making agreement on change difficult.

The council — which has the power to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces — has five permanent members, plus 10 members elected on a regional basis for two-year terms and which have no veto.

Numerous plans have been put forward in the past, differing over how many new council seats should be added, who should have them, whether they should be permanent, semi-permanent, or time-limited, and which if any new states should get the veto.

Any reform must be approved by two-thirds of the UN’s 192 members, including all five permanent Security Council members.