United Nations Security Council election, 2011
Encyclopedia
| Unsuccessful candidates |
| (Asian Group) |
| (Eastern European Group) |
| (Asian Group) |
| (African Group) |
| (Eastern European Group) |
The 2011 United Nations Security Council election was held on 21 and 24 October 2011 during the 66th session
Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly
The sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 13 September 2011 at 15:00 and is presided over by former Qatari permanent representative to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.-Organisation for the session:...
of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
, held at United Nations Headquarters
United Nations headquarters
The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The General Assembly elected Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2012. Azerbaijan was elected after 17 rounds on 24 October, while the other four new members were chosen on 21 October.
Rules
The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms. A sitting member may not run for re-election.In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats are allocated as follows:
- Two for African countries (currently held by GabonGabonGabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
and NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
), with one of them being the "Arab swing seat" - One for AsianUnited Nations geoscheme for Asia-Central Asia:*Kazakhstan*Kyrgyzstan*Tajikistan*Turkmenistan*Uzbekistan-Eastern Asia:*China - the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China **Hong Kong**Macau*Japan*Mongolia*Korea - North Korea and South Korea-Southern Asia:...
countries (currently held by LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
) - One for Latin America and the Caribbean (currently held by BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) - One for the Eastern European GroupEastern European GroupThe Eastern European Group is one of the five unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from regional groups...
(currently held by Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
)
To be elected, a candidate must acquire the votes of 2/3 of member states. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on.
Candidates
GuatemalaGuatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
has indicated it will run for the 2012–2013 term, for the seat currently occupied by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Guatemala is one of only six original UN Members that has never held a seat on the Security Council.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
have all announced their intention to run for the single Eastern European seat
Eastern European Group
The Eastern European Group is one of the five unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from regional groups...
. Though Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
did not run for the seat, the Azerbaijani Trend news agency had previously reported about an Armenan withdrawal of its bid, while reading the alleged candidature as "certainly viewed as Armenia's defeat." The Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
indicated it would support Azerbaijan's candidature.
Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
are seeking to be elected to the two African seats.
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
had announced its intention to run for the single Asian seat in October 2010. A Pakistani diplomat noted that Pakistan had supported India's candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the 2010 election, and hoped that India would support Pakistan's candidacy in 2011. Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
had originally sought to run for the seat, but deferred in Pakistan's favour. Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
has also made known its candidacy on 22 September 2011.
African Group
| African Group election results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
| 151 | — | — | |
| 119 | 119 | 131 | |
| 98 | 72 | 61 | |
| abstentions | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| required majority | 129 | 128 | 128 |
Asian Group
| Asian Group election results | |
|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 |
| 129 | |
| 55 | |
| 1 | |
Fiji had already withdrawn its campaign in favour of Pakistan before the election.
Latin American and Caribbean Group
Guatemala ran unopposed for the GRULAC seat, and was elected with 191 votes in the first round of voting, with two abstentions.Day One
| Eastern European Group election results — day one | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | ||||
| 74 | 90 | 93 | 93 | 98 | 96 | 100 | 110 | 113 | |||||
| 67 | 97 | 99 | 98 | 93 | 95 | 91 | 80 | 77 | |||||
| 52 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | |||||
| ballot papers | 193 | 193 | 193 | 192 | 193 | 193 | 193 | 191 | 191 | ||||
| abstentions | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| invalid votes | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| required majority | 129 | 125 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 127 | 127 | ||||
After eight rounds of inconclusive voting, General Assembly President
President of the United Nations General Assembly
The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly on a yearly basis.- Election :...
Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser initially decided to re-schedule the next round of voting for 24 October following the election of members to the Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
. However, Azerbaijan requested the ballot be continued for one more hour; the request was agreed to after Russian support despite opposition from France on the basis of a lack of translation services.
Though Estonia had not applied as a candidate, the 6th round, which was unrestricted, featured one vote for them.
Day Two
| Eastern European Group election results — day two | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Round 10 | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 | Round 15 | Round 16 | Round 17 | |||||
| 110 | 110 | 111 | 111 | 110 | 117 | 116 | 155 | ||||||
| 83 | 82 | 81 | 80 | 81 | 76 | 77 | 13 | ||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | ||||||
| ballot papers | 193 | 193 | 193 | 192 | 192 | 193 | 193 | 193 | |||||
| abstentions | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 24 | |||||
| required majority | 129 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 129 | 129 | 113 | |||||
After 7 additional inconclusive rounds of voting on 24 October, Slovenia's delegation told the General Assembly that while it believed Slovenia would be a good addition for the Security Council, it did not approve of the way in which the election was being held and was withdrawing its candidacy as the "will of the Assembly was clear". In the 17th round that followed, Azerbaijan achieved the necessary 2/3 majority and won the Eastern European seat.