A/59/PV.45 General Assembly

As was announced at the 43rd plenary meeting, on 27 October 2004, the General 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 that regard, I should like to draw the attention of members to document A/59/358, containing a letter dated 25 August 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations. In his letter, the Permanent Representative of Greece announces that Greece would like to relinquish its seat on the Economic and Social Council during 2005 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 Greece, commencing on 1 January 2005 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 Group of Western European and other States, the new member should therefore be elected from that region. I should like to inform the members of the General Assembly that the candidate who 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 who 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 the vacancy, the Chairman of the Group of Western European and other States for the month of August 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 2005, the following States from the Group of Western European and other States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Turkey 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. 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 185 Number of invalid ballots: 5 Number of valid ballots: 180 Abstentions: 6 Number of members voting: 174 Required two-thirds majority: 116 Number of votes obtained: Spain 163 Greece 3 Australia 2 Iceland 2 United Kingdom 2 Denmark 1 Sweden 1

Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Spain has thus been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2005 and ending on 31 December 2005. 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 2004. The 18 outgoing members are: Australia, Bhutan, Burundi, Chile, China, El Salvador, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, India, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Zimbabwe. Members will recall that Greece relinquished its seat on the Economic and Social Council, effective 1 January 2005, and that Spain has just been elected to fill that vacancy. As of 1 January 2005, the following States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Canada, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Republic of Tanzania 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 that will remain members of the Council after 1 January 2005, the 18 members should be elected as follows: four from the Group of African States, four from the Group of Asian States, three from the Group of Eastern European States, three from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States and four from the Group of 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, 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? 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 of the following. For the four vacant seats from among the African States, the Group has endorsed four candidates, namely Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea and South Africa. For the four vacant seats from among the Asian States, there are five candidates, namely, China, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Thailand. For the three vacant seats from among the Eastern European States, there are four candidates, namely, Albania, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. For the three vacant seats from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, three are five candidates, namely, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela. For the four vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, the Group has endorsed four candidates, namely, Australia, Denmark, Iceland 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. I ask for the usual cooperation of representatives during the voting. I should also like to remind members that all campaigning in the General Assembly Hall must cease during the voting. That means, in particular, that once the election has begun, no campaign materials may be distributed in the Hall. All representatives are also asked to remain in their seats, in order that the voting may take place in an orderly manner. I thank members again for their cooperation. 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.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 2 Number of members voting: 188 Required two-thirds majority: 126 Number of votes obtained: Chad 184 South Africa 183 Democratic Republic of the Congo 182 Guinea 179 Guinea-Bissau 2 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 190 Required two-thirds majority: 127 Number of votes obtained: India 174 China 157 Thailand 153 Pakistan 151 Kazakhstan 96 Iran 4 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 189 Required two-thirds majority: 126 Number of votes obtained: Lithuania 170 Russian Federation 150 Albania 116 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 113 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 190 Required two-thirds majority: 127 Number of votes obtained: Mexico 139 Brazil 135 Costa Rica 116 Venezuela 93 Honduras 70 Bolivia 1 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 5 Number of members voting: 185 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Iceland 178 Australia 176 United Kingdom 176 Denmark 174 Austria 2 Finland 1 Sweden 1 Economic and Social Council for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2005.

There remain two seats to be filled: one seat from among the Eastern European States and one seat from among the Latin American and Caribbean 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, Albania and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States that were not elected but that obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Costa Rica and Venezuela. 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” and “D” 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 Albania or The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or if they contain the names of more than one State. Ballot papers marked “D”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Costa Rica or Venezuela, or if they contain the names of more than one State. At the invitation of the President, Ms. Ioannou (Cyprus), Mr. Micanek (Czech Republic), Mr. Seyoum (Eritrea), Mr. Mallia (Malta), Mr. Realini (Monaco) and Ms. Fricot (Saint Lucia) acted as tellers. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 186 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 185 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Albania 108 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 77 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 2 Number of valid ballots: 186 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 186 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Costa Rica 114 Venezuela 72 This restricted ballot has been inconclusive. There still remain two seats to be filled — one from among the Group of Eastern European States and one from among the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we should continue with the series of restricted ballots. However, in view of the lateness of the hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until tomorrow morning, as the last item of the agenda.