A/61/PV.44 General Assembly

Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. The positions of delegations regarding the recommendation of the Fifth Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records. May I remind members that, under paragraph 7 of decision 34/401, the General Assembly agreed that “When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, that is, either in the Committee or in plenary meeting, unless that delegation’s vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee.” May I remind delegations that, also in accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes. Before we begin to take action on the recommendation contained in the report of the Fifth Committee 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 Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 8 of its report. The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 133.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 186 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 186 Abstentions: 5 Required two-thirds majority: 121 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 105 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 75 Uruguay 1 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We must therefore proceed to the twenty-first unrestricted ballot. For this forty-third round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate except those outgoing members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State, as well as if they contain the name of a Member State which does not belong to that region.

I ask members to cooperate as usual during the voting process. I wish to remind members that once the voting has begun, all lobbying activities in the Hall must stop. In particular, that means that no more election propaganda materials should be distributed. I also ask all delegations to stay in their seats so that the voting process can proceed smoothly. I thank members for their cooperation.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 4 Required two-thirds majority: 125 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 106 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 78 Ecuador 2 Jamaica 1 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the forty-fourth round of balloting, which is the twenty-second restricted ballot. This forty-fourth round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States which were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of the State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 106 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 76 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the forty-fifth round of balloting, which is the twenty-third restricted ballot. This forty-fifth round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States which were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of the State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 104 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 78 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We shall therefore proceed to the forty-sixth round of balloting, which is the twenty-fourth restricted ballot. This forty-sixth round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the Latin American and Caribbean States which were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the name of the State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Guatemala or the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 188 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 8 Required two-thirds majority: 120 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 101 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 79 Since the result of this ballot has again been inconclusive, there still remains one seat to be filled from among the Latin American and Caribbean States. We must therefore proceed to the twenty-second unrestricted ballot. For this forty-seventh round of balloting, may I remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Latin American and Caribbean States may be a candidate except those outgoing members and those already members of the Security Council, namely, Argentina and Peru. 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “B” will be declared invalid if they contain the name of more than one State, as well as if they contain the name of a Member State which does not belong to that region.

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 190 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 189 Abstentions: 7 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 101 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 78 Barbados 1 Ecuador 1 Uruguay 1 This unrestricted ballot has again been inconclusive. In accordance with the rules of procedure, we should continue with the series of unrestricted ballots. However, in view of the lateness of the hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until tomorrow at 3 p.m.