Sweden, Kazakhstan win UN Council Seats, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden, Sweden in UNSC,Kazakhstan in UNSC,UN Security Council,Ban Ki-moon,UN General Assembly
Sweden, Kazakhstan win UN Council Seats, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden, Sweden in UNSC,Kazakhstan in UNSC,UN Security Council,Ban Ki-moon,UN General Assembly,United Nations General Assembly
The 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly today elected Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan to serve on the world body’s Security Council for a period of two years, starting from 1 January 2017.
The newly-elected countries will replace Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, Angola and Venezuela.
Some Highlights
- Sweden and Kazakhstan won contested elections for seats on the UN Security Council
- Kazakhstan beat out Thailand in a second round, picking up 138 votes against 55 for Thailand and winning a council seat for the first time since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Sweden garnered 134 votes, scoring an outright win
- In the first round of voting, Sweden defeated the Netherlands and Italy.
- In the second round, the Netherlands got 99 votes and Italy 92 votes
- In the third round, Netherlands got 96 votes and Italy 94
- Five countries are elected to the council every year.
- The five newly-elected countries will take their place alongside the five permanent council members -- Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States.
- The other five non-permanent members are: Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay.
- The new members will begin their stint on January 1, just as the next secretary-general takes the helm following an October election to replace Ban Ki-moon.
The 15-member council includes five permanent members with veto power — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. Seats are allocated by region, and regional groups nominate candidates.
In Tuesday’s election for two seats allocated to the Western regional group, a two-thirds majority of 128 was needed. Sweden got 134 votes, the Netherlands 125 and Italy 113. For the Asian seat, Kazakhstan got 113 votes and Thailand received 77 — well below the two-thirds needed.