A/61/PV.45 General Assembly

I call on the representative of Mali, who wishes to speak on a point of order.

I am sorry to interrupt the voting process, but my delegation is not clear on what is at stake in these elections. It was our understanding that there were four candidates from among the Group of Western European and other States, and that Portugal and Greece were also added to the list. My delegation would like some clarifications before voting.

As I said earlier, the General Assembly is now proceeding to a by-election to elect two members of the Economic and Social Council, in accordance with rule 140 of the rules of procedure. I drew the attention of members to a letter from the Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations announcing that Spain would like to relinquish its seat on the Economic and Social Council for the remaining term, in favour of Portugal, and to a letter from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations announcing that Turkey would like to relinquish its seat on the Council for the term 2006- 2008, in favour of Greece. Following that, the General Assembly will proceed to the regular election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 189 Number of invalid ballots: 5 Number of valid ballots: 184 Abstentions: 5 Required two-thirds majority: 120 Number of votes obtained: Portugal 133 Greece 129 Canada 28 Luxembourg 25 Netherlands 15 United States 15 Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Greece and Portugal have thus been elected members of the Economic and Social Council for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2007 and ending on 31 December 2008. I congratulate Greece and Portugal, which have been elected members 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 2006. The 18 outgoing members are: Armenia, Bangladesh, Belize, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United States of America. Pursuant to rule 146 of the rules of procedure, those countries are eligible for immediate re-election. Members will recall that Greece and Portugal have just been elected to fill the two seats relinquished by Spain and Turkey, effective 1 January 2007. Consequently, as of 1 January 2007, the following States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Albania, Angola, Australia, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Japan, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 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 2007, 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 that pattern. I should like to inform the Assembly that those candidates, their number not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, that 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 of the respective regional groups, the Secretariat has been informed that for the five vacant seats from among the African States, the Group has endorsed five candidates: Algeria, Cape Verde, Malawi, Somalia and the Sudan. For the four vacant seats from among the Asian States, the Group has endorsed four candidates: Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan and the Philippines. For the two vacant seats from among the Eastern European States, there are three candidates: Belarus, Bulgaria and Romania. For the three vacant seats from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there are four candidates: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia and El Salvador. For the four vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, the Group has endorsed four candidates: Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. 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. If a ballot paper contains names of Member States that do not belong to that region, those names will not be counted at all.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 2 Required two-thirds majority: 127 Number of votes obtained: Cape Verde 187 Algeria 184 Malawi 184 Somalia 180 Sudan 170 Group B — Asian States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 3 Required two-thirds majority: 126 Number of votes obtained: Philippines 188 Kazakhstan 187 Indonesia 184 Iraq 181 Myanmar 1 Group C — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 1 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Romania 139 Bulgaria 123 Belarus 112 Group D — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 0 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Barbados 160 Bolivia 138 El Salvador 133 Argentina 120 Group E — Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 6 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Luxembourg 185 Netherlands 176 Canada 175 United States 168 Spain 1

There still remains one seat to be filled from among the Eastern European States. We shall therefore proceed to the first 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 Bulgaria. 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. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “C” 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 “C”, for the Eastern European States, will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Belarus or Bulgaria, or if they contain the name 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: 1 Number of valid ballots: 183 Abstentions: 2 Required two-thirds majority: 120 Number of votes obtained: Belarus 90 Bulgaria 89 This restricted ballot has once again 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 lateness of the hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until 3 p.m. today. It was so decided.