A/65/PV.70 General Assembly

I should like to inform delegations that this is the last possible extension we can grant before the Christmas break. The dates 24-26 December are holidays, and I will not agree to make anyone work on those days. If the Fifth Committee completes its work on 22 December, the Assembly’s plenary meeting could then be held on 23 December. I will not agree to overlap with the holidays, even if that means stopping at midnight. That means that, if work cannot be concluded by the timeline we have just set, meetings will have to be held the following week, namely, on 27 December or later, but certainly no later than 31 December. Nevertheless, the Chair of the Committee has just informed me that the Committee will not be in a position to complete its work as scheduled, and has suggested extending the deadline until tomorrow, 22 December. May I take it that the Assembly agrees to that extension in the work of the Fifth Committee? It was so decided.