A/54/PV.96 General Assembly

It is my sad duty to inform members of the passing of one of our colleagues, Mr. Lee Llewellyn Moore, the Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations since 1995. Ambassador Moore had a long and distinguished career as a civil servant and an esteemed diplomat, and was well respected both at home and abroad for his admirable qualities and devotion to his country and to the ideals of the United Nations. On behalf of the General Assembly and its President, and on my own behalf, I should like to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the bereaved family. I now invite representatives to stand and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of Mr. Lee Llewellyn Moore. 00-42553 (E) `````````

I give the floor to the representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

I speak today on behalf of the Permanent Mission of Saint Kitts and Nevis. I would like first of all to express my gratitude to you, Mr. Vice-President, for your statement and kind remarks expressed in honour of the late Sir Lee L. Moore. I am confident that he would have liked me to express appreciation for the cordial relations that he shared with the members of the Assembly and for the general spirit of cooperation that exists between our Mission and the United Nations system. I share the Vice-President’s comment that Sir Lee L. Moore had a very distinguished career: he served the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the fields of law, politics and diplomacy. It was in January of this year that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II conferred upon him the title of Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for his sterling contribution to the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. In his address to the Federation on the passing of Sir Lee L. Moore, The Honourable Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of the Federation, stated, “The Federation has lost yet another of its illustrious sons”. I join The Honourable Prime Minister in saying that the Permanent Mission of Saint Kitts and Nevis mourns the loss of a remarkable diplomat. The mortal remains of Sir Lee L. Moore will be laid to rest in Saint Kitts and Nevis at a State funeral on Friday, 19 May. A memorial service will be held in his honour in New York at a date to be announced. I would also like to inform the Assembly that a book of condolences will be open for signature at the Permanent Mission of Saint Kitts and Nevis tomorrow, Thursday, 11 May, and on Friday, 12 May, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. I take this opportunity also to thank representatives who have already conveyed expressions of condolences.

In the letter contained in document A/54/730/Add.5, the Secretary-General informs the President of the General Assembly that since the issuance of his communications contained in document A/54/730 and addenda 1 to 4, Mali has made the necessary payment to reduce its arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter. May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of the information contained in that document?

In paragraph 5 of the report contained in document A/54/541/Add.1, the Fifth Committee recommends that the General Assembly appoint Mr. Nathan Irumba of Uganda as a member of the Committee on Contributions for a term of office beginning 10 May 2000 and ending 31 December 2000. May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to appoint the person recommended?

As indicated in document A/54/110, in accordance with the procedures described in article 3, paragraph 1, of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, having consulted the regional groups concerned, and on the basis of the candidate submitted by the African States, as well as through a consultation by secret ballot with the General Assembly, the President of the General Assembly requested Austria, Burkina Faso, Germany and Romania to propose candidates. As further indicated in document A/54/110, as a result of the consultations held in accordance with article 3, paragraph 2, of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, including consultations with the President of the Economic and Social Council and with the Secretary-General in his capacity as Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, the President of the General Assembly submits to the Assembly the candidatures of Mrs. Doris Bertrand- Muck of Austria, Mr. Ion Gorita of Romania, Mr. Wolfgang M. Münch of Germany and Mr. Louis- Dominique Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso for appointment as members of the Joint Inspection Unit for a five-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2001 and expiring on 31 December 2005. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to appoint those candidates?

In view of the urgency unanimously expressed by Member States that a decision on the organizational aspects of the Millennium Summit should be taken without delay, I have consulted with the Secretariat and I can advise Member States that if draft resolution A/54/L.83/Rev.1 is adopted today, it will be possible to have the drawing of lots to establish the list of speakers for the Millennium Summit on Friday, 26 May, in the morning. Before we proceed to consider draft resolution A/54/L.83/Rev.1, I should like to submit to members some oral revisions to the draft resolution. The first revision is to the second paragraph of the preambular part. The first line of the second preambular paragraph should read: “Recalling also its resolution 54/254 of 15 March 2000, in which it:”. At the beginning of subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c), add the words “Decided that”. After subparagraph (c), add the following subparagraph, taken from paragraph 4 of resolution 54/254 of 15 March 2000: “(d) Requested the President of the General Assembly to hold consultations with all Member States in an open-ended process with a view to taking decisions on all outstanding issues relating to the Millennium Summit, including its outcome.” The next revision concerns part A of the annex. Paragraph 4 (a) of part A of the annex would be substituted by the following: “(a) Heads of State will thus be accorded first priority, followed by heads of Government; vice-presidents, crown princes/princesses; the highest-ranking official of the Holy See and Switzerland, in their capacity as observer States, and Palestine, in its capacity as observer; ministers; and permanent representatives.” That is the end of the revisions. With regard to paragraph 2 of part B of the annex, in particular the last sentence, which reads: “The choice of chairperson of the fourth round table will be subject to further consultations”, I should like to assure the Assembly that the President will consult the interested parties concerned, notably the two other regional groups, in the choice of the chairperson of the fourth round table. The President has also asked me to let the Assembly know that he will inform the representative of the country of the President of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly about the preparations for the Millennium Summit. It is the view of the President that this will help facilitate the smooth and successful co-chairmanship of the Millennium Summit. The President has discussed his intentions with the Permanent Representative of Finland, who has expressed her satisfaction in that regard. We shall now proceed to consider draft resolution A/54/L.83/Rev.1, as orally revised. I shall now call on those representatives who wish to speak in explanation of position before action is taken on the draft resolution. May I remind delegations that explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

The draft resolution on the organization of the list of speakers and the round tables for the Millennium Summit reflects to a large extent the views expressed by various delegations on procedural matters relating to the Summit. We would, however, like to be quite clear about a number of provisions in the draft. First, we support the proposal that the draft should clearly set forth the order of statements to be made at the Summit, on the understanding that priority will be given to heads of State and then heads of Government, vice-presidents and so forth. In this connection, we note that this idea is reflected in the amendments that have just been read out to us. The second point relates to paragraph 2, subparagraph (b), of part A, which provides that consultations will continue regarding the possible participation by one or more representatives of intergovernmental organizations, parliaments and civil society. In this connection, it is our understanding that none of the Member States would object to the participation at the Summit by representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Thus we consider that this question in principle is settled, and that further consultations will relate only to participation by other invitees, as referred to in paragraph 2, subparagraph (b). Lastly, we deem it important that after the adoption of this draft resolution, the focus of our work should be shifted immediately to preparations for the outcome, the final document of the Summit, as provided for in resolution 54/254. We reaffirm our willingness to cooperate constructively with all delegations and, of course, with the President of the General Assembly, with a view to reaching agreement on an important political declaration of the Summit.

I would like to support the oral revision that you, Sir, proposed with regard to paragraph 4 (a) of annex A of the draft resolution. My delegation believes that the paragraph as revised is in conformity with the letter and spirit of the well-established practice of the General Assembly.

I would like to thank you very much for your support. We have heard the last speaker in explanation of position before action is taken. I call on the representative of Venezuela on a point of order.

I want to point out a substantive discrepancy between the English and Spanish versions of the draft resolution on which we are about to take a decision, in the second sentence of paragraph 2 of annex B.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/54/L.83/Rev.1, entitled “Organization of the list of speakers and the round tables for the Millennium Summit”, as orally revised. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/54/L.83/Rev.1, as orally revised?

I shall now call on those representatives who wish to speak in explanation of position on the resolution just adopted. May I remind delegations that explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

My delegation welcomes the adoption of this resolution, which at last allows us to move from consideration of procedural matters to debating the substantive aspects of the Millennium Summit. In this connection, we respectfully request that there be prepared and distributed a timetable of meetings for the consideration of the Secretary- General’s report to the Summit. Those meetings should be scheduled to begin as soon as possible, so that the outcome or outcomes that are to be adopted in September by our heads of State or Government can be prepared. This resolution, together with the decision adopted this morning by the Fifth Committee, makes it perfectly clear that we are preparing for the holding of a single event – a unique and singular event to which our heads of State or Government have been personally invited by the Secretary-General. We mention this because we are concerned that in this building’s hallways we continue to hear about ongoing initiatives aimed at diminishing this solemn occasion through the holding of parallel events. So that there will be no mistake, I will say that I am referring to the idea of having meetings at the level of heads of State or Government of the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council. We trust that the countries that make up those two principal organs share with us the desire to ensure the greatest success and visibility of the Millennium Summit.

I would like to welcome the observations made by the representative of Mexico and to assure him that the President has informed me that, when he returns during the week of 22 May, he intends to hold consultations with the Secretary- General with a view to establishing a timetable so as to have successful preparations and to implement the decisions taken today.

We are extraordinarily pleased that the General Assembly has been able to adopt this resolution at this time, after 18 months of consultations and numerous meetings. As we stated on 27 April of this year, the fact that we have been able to adopt these important decisions puts us in an excellent position to undertake the most important part of the preparations for this summit. The Millennium Summit will not go down in history – or fail to do so – on the basis of the procedures and modalities of its organization, but on the basis of the expressions of political will by the Member States and of the commitments undertaken and results achieved. In this connection, the delegation of Cuba greatly welcomes the fact that, with the adoption of this resolution, we have concluded the lengthy stage of organizational decisions, despite the fact that during this morning’s meeting of the Fifth Committee, we raised a number of issues on points that were open to interpretation in connection with technical aspects or inaccuracies relating to the budgetary aspects of this resolution. In our opinion, the most important requirement is that the President of the General Assembly be able immediately to announce a timetable of intergovernmental consultations on the substantive issues to be considered by the Summit. We welcome the explanation that you, Sir, have just given, but we would also like to point out that if the consultations with the regional groups are to begin on 22 May in order to determine the way in which the intergovernmental process is going to take place, it will be very difficult to accomplish that goal before June, which is less than two months before that important universal event. Our delegation would like the General Assembly immediately to begin to consider the important report of the Secretary-General and other inputs that are no less important, such as the communiqué of the annual ministerial meeting in Cartagena or the documents adopted during the recent South Summit. Our delegation believes that the Millennium Summit will be a unique meeting of the General Assembly that should have no competition from other parallel events or initiatives that, albeit inadvertently, might have unwanted consequences and diminish the impact of the Summit or undermine the importance of a summit meeting of the most representative and universal body of the United Nations – the General Assembly, whose powers should be wielded fully and should not be diminished.

The observations of the Permanent Representative of Cuba will be duly conveyed to the President.

I would like to associate myself with the comments of previous speakers. I would also like to refer to the rumours continuing to circulate in the corridors about planned summits, in connection with the Millennium Summit, of two other United Nations organs, namely, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. It is certainly not for us to infringe upon the responsibilities of those main organs of the United Nations. The Security Council and the Economic and Social Council are certainly entitled to hold meetings at their discretion, whenever they consider it necessary. However, as we see it, the Secretary-General initially brought forward the idea of a Millennium Assembly of the United Nations in order to convey to the world the message of a family of nations, standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to master the challenges of the century that is beginning. We are afraid that this message might be diluted if it develops into a more or less regular event involving summit meetings by one, two or three main organs of the United Nations. We would like to draw the attention of the President to these rumours and would very much appreciate it if consultations could take place with the other organs of the United Nations to make sure that we are about to come together to bring our heads of State to an event which will truly reflect the response of this body to the challenges ahead.

The observations of the representative of Germany have been duly noted. We have heard the last speaker in explanation of position. Further to my earlier comments in response to the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Mexico, I wish to confirm to the Assembly that the President will convene a meeting of the General Assembly during the week of 22 May to allow Member States to have an exchange of views on the report of the Secretary-General entitled, “We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century”. We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 49.