Pakistan has called for increasing the number of non-permanent members of the UN Security Council in an effort to balance the power of five veto-wielding countries, while pointing out difficulties in abolishing that power.
"Our proposals (on balancing the veto power) have been made in full knowledge of an unfortunate reality that any proposal to abolish or severely restrict veto is itself likely to be vetoed," Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told a closed-door session of the General Assembly on reforming and expanding the 15-member council aimed at making it more representative and effective.
"Increased number of the elected non-permanent members will tilt the balance away from the permanent members," he said during a discussion on reforming the veto right. In his well-reasoned speech, Ambassador Haroon said Pakistan and its allies have made practical proposals that steer through the emotional idealism of many member states, opposed to the concept and practice of veto.
"Similarly, these proposals also soften the blow of the blunt realism of a select few member states, who view veto as an indispensable tool for working of the United Nations system." "In our view, the most effective and feasible way of balancing the power of veto is to increase the number of elected members of the Security Council, the Pakistan envoy added. Accordingly, the burden of vetoing a resolution will increase markedly for a permanent member."
Similarly, he said, in an enlarged council, a higher number of affirmative votes would be required to pass a resolution. If the council were expanded to 26 members, 16 affirmative votes would be required to pass a resolution. With a higher ratio, the affirmative votes required could be 17 or 18.
"This is where the blocking power of veto can be balanced, not by another undemocratic veto, but by the combined weight of 8 or 9 or more non-permanent members of the council who may decide to act together in the collective interest". In terms of empowering the developing world, Ambassador Haroon said this would be a situation where for example Africa with its 6 or 7 seats, Asia with an equal number and Latin America with its own, can have a real say in decision making in the council.
"Going further, a concrete way of preserving collective interests is to reach an understanding, and preferably a charter amendment, would require concurrence of all members of a region for adoption of any resolution relating to that region," he said.
"This may be of particular interest to Africa: We believe that such an arrangement will also be a step with the increasing emphasis being laid in recent years in the Council for adopting unified and consensus decisions for greater legitimacy and effectiveness."
Full-scale negotiations to restructure the Security Council began in the General Assembly in February last year in 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 192-member assembly.
Diplomats said delegates taking part in the discussion expressed differing opinions on the blocking power of the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. As the main allies against Germany and Japan in World War Two, the five received permanent seats on the council with veto rights. The five later acquired special status as official nuclear weapons' states under the 1970 non-proliferation treaty (NPT). India, Germany, Japan and Brazil are aspiring to become permanent members of an expanded Security Council.