A/51/PV.47 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 1996. The 18 outgoing members are: Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Senegal, the United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. I should like to remind members of the Assembly that, as of 1 January 1997, the following States will continue to be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, the Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Czech Republic, Finland, Gabon, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The names of these 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 1997, the 18 members should be elected as follows: five from African States, three from Asian States, one from Eastern European States, four from Latin American and Caribbean States, and five 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 this 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. Regarding candidatures, I have been informed that for the five vacancies from among the African States, the candidates endorsed by the Group of African States are Cape Verde, Djibouti, the Gambia, Mozambique and Zambia. There are two candidates for one vacancy from among the Eastern European States. The candidates are Bulgaria and Latvia. There are five candidates for four vacancies from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. The five candidates are Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela. The Group of Western European and other States has endorsed five candidates for five vacancies. The candidates are France, Germany, Iceland, Spain and Turkey. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot. 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: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 181 Required two-thirds majority: 121 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 181 Required two-thirds majority: 121 Number of votes obtained: Japan 127 Republic of Korea 118 Sri Lanka 90 Viet Nam 84 Indonesia 76 Syrian Arab Republic 30 Papua New Guinea 5 Pakistan 3 Cambodia 1 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 179 Abstentions: 2 Number of Members voting: 177 Required two-thirds majority: 118 Number of votes obtained: Latvia 116 Bulgaria 61 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 181 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 2 Number of Members voting: 179 Required two-thirds majority: 120 Number of votes obtained: Germany 176 France 174 Iceland 168 Turkey 167 Spain 166 Ireland 7 Greece 5 Portugal 5 Italy 2 Austria 1 Belgium 1

I congratulate those States which have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council. There remain three seats to be filled — two from among the Asian States and one from among the Eastern European States. We shall therefore proceed to the first restricted ballot. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Ballot papers marked “B” and “C” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on those ballot papers the names of the States for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Asian States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other than Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka or Viet Nam, as well as if they contain the names of more than two States. Ballot papers marked “C”, for the Eastern European States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other than Bulgaria or Latvia, as well as if they contain the names of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 181 Required two-thirds majority: 121 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 181 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 181 Abstentions: 1 Number of Members voting: 180 Required two-thirds majority: 120 Number of votes obtained: Latvia 138 Bulgaria 42

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. We shall therefore proceed to the second restricted ballot. The third round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Asian States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot — namely, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. This is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on those ballot papers the name of the State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Asian States, will be declared invalid if they contain the names of States other

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B - Asian States Number of ballot papers: 174 Number of invalid ballots: 3 Number of valid ballots: 171 Abstentions: 3 Number of Members voting: 168 Required two-thirds majority: 112 Number of votes obtained: Sri Lanka 105 Viet Nam 63

Since no candidates obtained the required two-thirds majority in the previous ballot, 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 p.m.