A/56/PV.31 General Assembly

As was announced at the 30th plenary meeting on Monday, 22 October 2001, I should like to consult the Assembly on a matter regarding the election of members of the International Law Commission, which will be held on Wednesday, 7 November 2001. On that day, the Assembly will proceed to the election of 34 members of the Commission, whose terms of office are to commence on 1 January 2002. It should be recalled that, in accordance with the statute of the International Law Commission, the Secretary- General communicated to the Governments of Member States, in document A/56/117 and Corr.1, the list of candidates submitted within the required time for the submission of nominations — that is, by 1 June 2001. The statements of qualifications of the candidates are contained in document A/56/124. Subsequent to that date, the Secretary-General received additional information concerning candidates, new candidatures as well as a withdrawal. The names of the new candidates and additional information are to be found in documents A/56/117/Add.1 and Add.2, as well as A/56/124/Add.1. Under these circumstances, it is necessary for the General Assembly to take a decision as to whether the new candidatures should be accepted in spite of the submission of their names subsequent to the deadline and whether they should be incorporated into a consolidated list of candidates. It has been the practice of the Assembly to incorporate such late submissions into a consolidated list. If I hear no objection, I shall take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to request the Secretary- General to issue such a consolidated list of candidates. It was so decided.

The consolidated list of candidates will be issued under the symbol A/56/486. I call on the representative of Sudan on a point of order.

I apologize for interrupting the proceedings. However, with respect to the information that was given earlier concerning the elections to the International Law Commission, I would like to confirm that Africa will be allocated nine seats this time. I do so because, in some of the texts of the Secretary-General, it is not really clear as to whether Africa has eight or nine seats. But it is clear to us that Africa should have nine seats. There is one seat that rotates and that additional seat, this time, will be for Africa. This means accordingly that Africa will have nine seats this time.

The General Assembly will take note of the statement of the representative of Sudan.

As was announced at its 29th plenary meeting on 22 October 2001, the Assembly will first proceed to a by-election to elect a member of the Economic and Social Council, in accordance with rule 140 of the rules of procedure. In this connection, I should like to draw the attention of members to document A/56/467, containing a letter dated 11 October 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations. In his letter, the Permanent Representative of Portugal announces that Portugal would like to relinquish its seat on the Economic and Social Council for the year 2002, in favour of Spain. As a result, a vacancy will occur and a new member must therefore be elected to fill the unexpired term of office of Portugal for one year, commencing on 1 January 2002. In accordance with paragraph 4 of General Assembly resolution 2847 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, and taking into account that the vacancy will occur from among the Western European and other States, the new member should therefore be elected from that region. I should like to inform the Assembly that the candidate which receives a two-thirds majority of the votes of members present and voting will be declared elected. In the case of a tie vote, there will be a special restricted ballot limited to those candidates that have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to that procedure? It was so decided.

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 the vacancy, the Chairman of the Group of Western European and other States for the month of October has informed the Secretariat that the Group has endorsed Spain. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot. I should like to inform members that, as of 1 January 2002, the following States from the Group of Western European and other States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Andorra, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and the United States of America. The names of those eight States should therefore not appear on the ballot. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. I should like to seek the usual cooperation of representatives during the time of the conduct of the election. Please be reminded that, during the voting process, all campaigning should cease in the General Assembly Hall. This means in particular that, once the election has begun, no more campaign material can be distributed inside the Hall. All representatives are also requested to remain at their seats so that the voting process can proceed in an orderly manner. We shall now begin the voting process. Ballot papers will now be distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers and to write on them the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. A ballot paper containing more than one name from the region will be declared invalid. The name of a Member State on a ballot paper that does not belong to that region will not be counted at all. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 176 Number of invalid ballots: 22 Number of valid ballots: 154 Abstentions: 5 Number of members voting: 149 Required two-thirds majority: 100 Number of votes obtained: Spain 149

I congratulate Spain, which has been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council. The General Assembly will next turn to the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 2001. The 18 outgoing members are Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Norway, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Venezuela. Members will recall that Portugal relinquished its seat on the Economic and Social Council effective 1 January 2002. As of 1 January 2002, the following States will continue to be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Georgia, Germany, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Romania, South Africa, Spain, the Sudan, Suriname, Uganda and the United States of America. 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 that will remain members of the Council after 1 January 2002, the 18 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 that pattern. I should like to inform the Assembly that those candidates, their number not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, receiving the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of members 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 that have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to that procedure? It was so decided.

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, the Chairmen of the respective regional Groups have informed the Secretariat that, for the four vacant seats from among the African States, the Group has endorsed four candidates: Burundi, Ghana, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Zimbabwe. For the four vacant seats from among the Asian States, first, I should like to inform members that I have received a letter dated 24 October 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations stating that his Government has decided to withdraw its candidature. Consequently, there are now six candidates: Bhutan, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Myanmar and Qatar. For the three vacant seats from among the Eastern European States, the Group has endorsed three candidates: Hungary, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. For the three vacant seats from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there are four candidates. They are Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti. For the four vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, the Group has endorsed four candidates: Australia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now begin the voting process. 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 that do not belong to that region will not be counted at all. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Magaryan (Armenia), Mr. Moushoutas (Cyprus), Ms. Anagnostopoulou (Greece), Miss Marston (Jamaica) and Ms. Rajaonarivelo (Madagascar) acted as tellers. A vote was taken by secret ballot. The meeting was suspended at 11.05 a.m. and resumed at 12.45 p.m.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 177 Abstentions: 4 Number of members voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Burundi 170 Ghana 168 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 163 Zimbabwe 162 Zambia 2 Congo 1 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 176 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 176 Required two-thirds majority: 118 Number of votes obtained: Bhutan 146 India 145 Qatar 142 China 134 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 176 Abstentions: 3 Number of members voting: 173 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Hungary 170 Ukraine 168 Russian Federation 161 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 177 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 177 Required two-thirds majority: 118 Number of votes obtained: Chile 140 El Salvador 135 Guatemala 125 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 176 Abstentions: 8 Number of members voting: 168 Required two-thirds majority: 112 Number of votes obtained: Australia 168 Finland 167 United Kingdom 167 Sweden 165 [For the complete results of this round of balloting, see A/56/PV.32.] and Zimbabwe were elected members of the Economic and Social Council for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2002.

I congratulate those States which have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election.