New York, June 10 (BNA): The UN member states elected five countries to join the powerful UN Security Council on Thursday without any suspense or drama because not everyone faced opposition – Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.
Winning a seat on the 15-member Security Council is the pinnacle of achievement for many countries because it gives them a powerful voice on international peace and security issues, according to the Associated Press.
The results of the secret ballot in the 193-member General Assembly were Ecuador 190, Japan 184, Malta 185, Mozambique 192, and Switzerland 187.
Even if a country competes without opposition, it must obtain the votes of two-thirds of the member states that voted in order to win a seat on the council.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdullah Shahid, announced the results of the secret vote and congratulated the winner.
It will be the first time that Mozambique and Switzerland serve on the council, the twelfth time for Japan, the third for Ecuador and the second for Malta.
The five new council members will start their term on January 1, replacing five countries whose two-year terms expire on December 31: India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.
They will join the council’s five permanent members with veto power – the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France – and the five countries elected last year: Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.
The council’s ten non-permanent seats are reserved for regional groups, which usually select candidates, but sometimes cannot agree on an uncontested list.
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