A/50/PV.62 General Assembly

This morning the General Assembly will proceed to the election of eighteen members of the Economic and Social Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 1995. The eighteen outgoing members are: Bahamas, Bhutan, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, Gabon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Zaire. I should like to remind members of the Assembly that as of 1 January 1996 the following States will continue to be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, the United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The names of these thirty-six 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 1996, the eighteen members should be elected as follows: four from African States, four from Asian States, three 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 number of candidates, not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, receiving the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting 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.

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of African States for the month of November 1995, I have the honour to inform the General Assembly that the candidatures of the Central African Republic, Gabon, Togo and Tunisia have been endorsed by the Group for election to the Economic and Social Council for a three- year term commencing on 1 January 1996.

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

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Asian States for the month of November 1995, I have the honour to inform the General Assembly that Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Nepal and the Syrian Arab Republic have presented their candidatures for election to the Economic and Social Council.

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

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States for the current month, I have the honour to inform the General Assembly that the Group has four candidates for the three vacancies on the Economic and Social Council. These candidates are: the Czech Republic, Romania, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The Group has not been in a position to endorse any of those candidates.

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

In my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States for the month of November 1995, I have the honour to inform the General Assembly that the region has five candidates for election to the Economic and Social Council: Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana and Nicaragua.

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

I call on the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic, who has indicated that he wishes to make a statement.

As has been mentioned by the Chairman of the Group of Asian States, the Syrian Arab Republic is one of the States that have submitted themselves as candidates for membership of the Economic and Social Council for the three year period from 1996 through 1998. Proceeding from its desire to preserve the unity of the Asian Group, and as a token of esteem for the Group, Syria announces the withdrawal, at this session, of its candidature, in favour of Lebanon. We ask all these countries that kindly supported us to take note of our withdrawal and to consider extending that support to our sister country, Lebanon.

I thank the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic and for his cooperation. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot, taking into account the statements made by the representatives of Albania, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Norway, South Africa and the Syrian Arab Republic. 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. Names of Member States on a ballot paper which 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: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting 175 Required two-thirds majority: 117 Number of votes obtained: Tunisia 173 Gabon 172 Togo 170 Central African Republic 161 Nigeria 2 Guinea-Bissau 1 Zaire 1 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 175 Required two-thirds majority: 117 Number of votes obtained: China 137 Bangladesh 121 Lebanon 112 Jordan 88 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 79 Cambodia 75 Nepal 59 Syrian Arab Republic 2 Viet Nam 2 Kuwait 1 Republic of Korea 1 Sri Lanka 1 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 175 Required two-thirds majority: 117 Number of votes obtained: Argentina 124 Guyana 108 Nicaragua 103 Ecuador 83 Bolivia 72 Panama 3 Cuba 2 Mexico 2 Chile 1 Guatemala 1 Peru 1 Uruguay 1 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 175 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 175 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 172 Required two-thirds majority: 115 Number of votes obtained: Canada 168 Finland 166 Sweden 165

I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council. There remain four seats to be filled — two from among the Asian States and two from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the first restricted ballot. The second round of balloting shall be restricted to the four States from among the Asian States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot — namely, Cambodia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan and Lebanon; and to the four States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot — namely, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana and Nicaragua. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Ballot papers, marked “B”, and “D” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on those ballot papers the names of the States for which they want to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Asian States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other Ballot papers marked “D”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other than Bolivia. I understand that the representative of Bolivia wishes to speak, and I now call on him.

I should like to inform the General Assembly that the delegation of Bolivia is withdrawing its candidature in the second round of balloting. But, for the record, I want to express Bolivia’s appreciation to those delegations that honoured us with their vote and their confidence in us. We are very moved by this, regardless of the final results of the balloting. We hope that this announcement will contribute to the prompt election of all the new members of the Economic and Social Council.

I thank the representative of Bolivia for his cooperation. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we shall proceed with the first restricted ballot, taking into account the statement made by the representative of Bolivia. Thus, ballot papers marked “D”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other than Ecuador, Guyana or Nicaragua as well as if they contain the names of more than two States.

I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council. There remains one seat to be filled from among the Asian States. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we should continue with the series of restricted ballots. However, in view of the late hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until 3.30 p.m.