A/58/PV.60 General Assembly

The General Assembly will consider a report of the Fifth Committee on sub-item (a) of agenda item 17, concerning the appointment of a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. If there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the report of the Fifth Committee which is before the Assembly today.

I should like to advise representatives that we are going to proceed to take a decision in the same manner as was done in the Fifth Committee. The Fifth Committee recommends in paragraph 4 of its report that the General Assembly appoint Mr. Richard Moon of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for a term of office beginning on 11 November 2003 and ending on 31 December 2004. May I take it that the General Assembly decides to appoint this person?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda item 17.

As was announced at the 59th plenary meeting yesterday, 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/58/357, containing a letter dated 10 September 2003 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 remainder of its term in favour of Turkey. As a result, a vacancy will occur and a new member must therefore be elected to fill the unexpired term of office of Portugal, commencing on 1 January 2004 and expiring on 31 December 2005. 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 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?

In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, the election shall be held by secret ballot, and there shall be no nominations. Also in connection with this election, I would like to remind members that, in accordance with Article 19 of the Charter and resolution 58/1 of 16 October 2003, two member States will not be given ballot papers. Regarding the vacancy, the Chairman of the Group of Western European and other States for the month of November has informed the Secretariat that the Group has endorsed Turkey. 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 2004, the following States from the Group of Western European and other States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 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. 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.

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 187 Number of invalid ballots: 4 Number of valid ballots: 183 Abstentions: 6 Number of members voting: 177 Required two-thirds majority: 118 Number of votes obtained: Turkey 155 United States of America 6 Belgium 5 Canada 5 Portugal 3 Italy 2 Israel 1

Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Turkey has thus been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2004 and ending on 31 December 2005. I congratulate Turkey, 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 2003. The 18 outgoing members are: Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Romania, South Africa, Uganda and the United States of America. Members will recall that Portugal relinquished its seat on the Economic and Social Council, effective 1 January 2004, and that Turkey has just been elected to fill that vacancy. As of 1 January 2004, the following States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Australia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, Chile, China, the Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. 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 that will remain members of the Council after 1 January 2004, 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 those candidates, their number not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, who receive 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 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?

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 five vacant seats from among the African States, the Group has endorsed five candidates, namely Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia and the United Republic of Tanzania. For the four vacant seats from among the Asian States, there are six candidates, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates. For the two vacant seats from among the Eastern European States, there are three candidates, namely Armenia, Belarus and Poland. For the three vacant seats from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, the Group has endorsed three candidates, namely Belize, Colombia and Panama. For the four vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, the Group has endorsed four candidates, namely Belgium, Canada, Italy and the United States of America. 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 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: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 187 Required two-thirds majority: 125 Number of votes obtained: Tunisia 186 Namibia 183 Mauritius 180 Nigeria 180 United Republic of Tanzania 175 Mauritania 1 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 187 Required two-thirds majority: 125 Number of votes obtained: United Arab Emirates 167 Bangladesh 143 Republic of Korea 133 Indonesia 130 Cambodia 121 Kyrgyzstan 31 Pakistan 1 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 187 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 186 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Armenia 127 Poland 123 Belarus 112 Republic of Moldova 3 Romania 1 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 3 Number of members voting: 185 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Belize 180 Colombia 179 Panama 179 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 7 Number of members voting: 181 Required two-thirds majority: 121 Number of votes obtained: Belgium 176 Italy 172 Canada 171 United States of America 165 Israel 1 Portugal 1

There remains one seat to be filled from among the Eastern European States. We shall therefore proceed to a restricted ballot. This second round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Eastern European States that were not elected but that obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely Belarus and Poland. That is in accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure. 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 “C” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “C” for the Eastern European States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Belarus or Poland or if they contain the names of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 184 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 184 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 183 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Number of votes obtained: Poland 108 Belarus 75 This restricted ballot has been inconclusive. There still remains one seat to be filled from among the Eastern European 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. this afternoon. I should like to thank the interpreters for the patience they have shown in this matter. Programme of work

I should like to make an announcement regarding the programme of work of the plenary for the morning of Monday, 17 November. As members will recall, the General Assembly will take up first agenda item 16 (a), “Election of forty- three members of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law”. In addition, as the second item, the General Assembly will take up agenda item 16 (c), “Election of seven members of the Committee for Programme and Coordination”. As the third item, the Assembly will resume consideration of agenda item 20, “Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies”, to take action on the draft resolution contained in document A/58/L.15.