A/60/PV.34 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now 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 2005. The 18 outgoing members are: Azerbaijan, Benin, the Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain and Turkey. As of 1 January 2006, the following States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chad, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania 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 2006, the 18 members should be elected as follows: five from the Group of African States, three from the Group of Asian States, one from the Group of Eastern European States, four from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States and five 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 of the respective regional Groups, the Secretariat has been informed of the following. For the five vacant seats from among the African States, the Group has endorsed five candidates: Angola, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and Mauritania. For the three vacant seats from among the Asian States, the Group has endorsed three candidates: Japan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. For the one vacant seat from among the Eastern European States, the Group has endorsed the Czech Republic. For the four vacant seats from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there are five candidates: Cuba, Guyana, Haiti, Paraguay and Uruguay. For the five vacant seats among the Western European and other States, the Group has endorsed five candidates: Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Turkey. 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 should like to seek the usual cooperation of representatives during the time of the conduct of the election. I should also like to remind members that during the voting, all campaigning should cease in the conference room. That means, in particular, that once the election has begun, no campaign materials may be distributed in the room. All representatives are also asked to remain in their seats in order that the voting process may proceed in an orderly manner. I thank members in advance 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. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 1 Number of Members voting: 188 Required majority of Members present and voting: 126 Number of votes obtained: Angola 186 Madagascar 184 Benin 183 Mauritania 181 Guinea-Bissau 180 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 1 Number of Members voting: 187 Required majority of Members present and voting: 125 Number of votes obtained: Saudi Arabia 182 Japan 180 Sri Lanka 180 Myanmar 1 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 3 Number of valid ballots: 186 Abstentions: 12 Number of Members voting: 174 Required majority of Members present and voting: 116 Number of votes obtained: Czech Republic 173 Azerbaijan 1 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 188 Required majority of Members present and voting: 126 Number of votes obtained: Paraguay 160 Guyana 158 Cuba 154 Haiti 138 Uruguay 121 Nicaragua 1 Grenada 1 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 5 Number of Members voting: 183 Required majority of Members present and voting: 122 Number of votes obtained: Austria 175 France 175 Germany 174 Spain 173 Turkey 172 Ireland 4 Greece 1 Australia 1

I congratulate those States that have been elected members of the Economic and Social Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. That concludes our consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 111.