A/49/PV.54 General Assembly

This morning the General Assembly will proceed to the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 1994. The 18 outgoing members are: Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Kuwait, Madagascar, the Philippines, Poland, Suriname, Swaziland and the United States of America. I should like to remind members of the Assembly that, as of 1 January 1995, the following States will continue to be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Bahamas, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela, Zaire and Zimbabwe. The names of those 36 States should therefore not appear on the ballots. In accordance with paragraph 4 of General Assembly resolution 2847 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, and taking into account the number of States which will remain members of the Council after 1 January 1995, the 18 members should be elected as follows: five from African States, four from Asian States, two from Eastern European States, three from Latin American and Caribbean States and four from Western European and other States. The ballot papers reflect this pattern. I should like to inform the Assembly that the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, and not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, will be declared elected. In the case of a tie vote for a remaining seat, there will be a restricted ballot limited to those candidates which have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to that procedure?

In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, the election shall be held by secret ballot and there shall be no nominations.

I am happy to inform the General Assembly that the Group of African States has unanimously endorsed the candidatures of Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Uganda, Sudan and South Africa for the five seats allotted to Africa.

I now call on the representative of Turkey, as Chairman of the Group of Asian States.

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Asian States, for the month of November 1994, I have the honour to inform the members of the General Assembly that Fiji, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Syria and Thailand have presented their candidatures for election to the Economic and Social Council from the Asian Group.

I now call on the representative of Georgia, as Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States.

In our capacity as Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States, we have the honour to inform the Assembly that the Group has unanimously endorsed two States for election to the Economic and Social Council: Belarus and Poland.

I now call on the representative of Peru, as Chairman of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.

My country is serving as current Chairman of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. We would like to inform the members of the General Assembly that our candidates are Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica and Panama.

I now call on the representative of Denmark, as Chairman of the Group of Western European and Other States.

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Western European and Other States, I have the honour to announce that the following candidates have been endorsed by the Group: Australia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United States of America. Ballot papers marked “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, and “E” will now be distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers and to write on them the names of the States for which they wish to vote. A ballot paper containing more names from the relevant region than the number of seats assigned to it will be declared invalid. Ballot papers containing the names of Member States that do not belong to that region will not be counted at all.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States Number of ballot papers: 173 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 173 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Côte d’Ivoire 168 South Africa 168 Uganda 166 Congo 164 Sudan 156 Togo 2 Number of ballot papers: 173 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 173 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Malaysia 148 India 129 Thailand 125 Philippines 108 Fiji 94 Syrian Arab Republic 44 Islamic Republic of Iran 14 Bangladesh 3 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 172 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 172 Abstentions: 2 Number of Members voting: 170 Required two-thirds majority: 114 Number of votes obtained: Belarus 167 Poland 163 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 173 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 173 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Brazil 140 Colombia 140 Jamaica 131 Panama 88 Bolivia 1 Nicaragua 1 Number of ballot papers: 173 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 173 Abstentions: 2 Number of Members voting: 171 Required two-thirds majority: 114 Number of votes obtained: Luxembourg 170 Australia 159 United States of America 159 Netherlands 154 Italy 1

I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council. Since one seat remains to be filled from among the Asian States, we shall now proceed to the first restricted ballot. This second round of balloting shall be restricted to those two States from among the Asian States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot — namely, Fiji and the Philippines. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Ballot papers, marked “B”, for the Asian States will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on those ballot papers the name of the State for which they want to vote. Ballot papers will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Fiji or the Philippines, and if they contain the name of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 174 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 172 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 172 Required two-thirds majority: 115 Number of votes obtained: Philippines 106 Fiji 66

Since no candidate has obtained the required two-thirds majority for the one seat that remains to be filled from among the Asian States, we shall now proceed to a second restricted ballot. The representative of Fiji wishes to make a statement at this time, and I now call on him.

First, let me thank all the States that cast votes for my delegation in the last two ballots. I should now like to inform the General Assembly that my delegation wishes to withdraw its candidature from the next vote.

I thank the representative of Fiji for his cooperation. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we shall proceed to the second restricted ballot, taking into account the statement made by the representative of Fiji. Ballot papers will now be distributed.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 163 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 162 Abstentions: 4 Number of Members voting: 158 Required two-thirds majority: 106 Number of votes obtained: Philippines 153 Fiji 5

I congratulate the State which has been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in the election. The following 18 States have thus been elected members of the Economic and Social Council for a three- year term beginning on 1 January 1995: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand, Uganda and the United States of America. That concludes our consideration of agenda item 15 (b).

I should like to announce that agenda item 32, entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity”, scheduled for tomorrow morning as the first item will be considered instead on Monday, 28 November, in the morning, as the second item.