A/66/PV.37 General Assembly

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, I have been informed by the Chairpersons of the respective regional groups of the following. For the three vacant seats from among the African and Asian-Pacific States, five candidates have been designated, namely, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo. For the one vacant seat from among the Eastern European States, there are three candidates, namely, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Slovenia. For the one vacant seat from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there is one endorsed candidate, namely, Guatemala. 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” and “C” will now be distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers that have been distributed. May I ask representatives to write clearly on the ballot papers marked “A”, for the African and Asian- Pacific States, the names of the three States for which they wish to vote; on the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Eastern European States, the name of the one State for which they wish to vote; and on the ballot papers marked “C”, for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. A ballot will be declared invalid if it contains more names of Member States from the relevant region than the number of seats assigned to it. A ballot will also be declared invalid if all the names of the Member States on that ballot do not belong to the relevant region. If a ballot paper contains names of Member States that do not belong to that region, the ballot remains valid, but only the names of the Member States that belong to the relevant region will be counted. The names of Member States that do not belong to that region will not be counted at all.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African and Asian-Pacific States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 193 Required two-thirds majority: 129 Number of votes obtained: Morocco 151 Pakistan 129 Togo 119 Mauritania 98 Kyrgyzstan 55 Fiji 1 Group B — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 193 Required two-thirds majority: 129 Number of votes obtained: Azerbaijan 74 Slovenia 67 Hungary 52 Group C — Latin America and the Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 2 Number of members voting: 191 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Guatemala 191

There remain two seats to be filled, one from among the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States and one from among the Group of Eastern European States. We shall therefore proceed to the first restricted ballot. In accordance with established practice, there is an understanding to the effect that, of the three seats allocated to the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States, two should be filled by African States and one by an Asian-Pacific State. As Morocco and Pakistan have already been elected, the remaining seat for the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States should be filled by an African State. The second round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the African and Asian- Pacific States that were not elected but that obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Togo and Mauritania; and 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, Azerbaijan and Slovenia. 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 “A” and “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the names of the States for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “A” for African and Asian-Pacific States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Mauritania or Togo, as well as if they contain the names of more than one State. Ballot papers marked “B” for Eastern European States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Azerbaijan or Slovenia, as well as if they contain the names of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African and Asian-Pacific States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 2 Number of members voting: 191 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Togo 119 Mauritania 72 Group B — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 5 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 187 Required two-thirds majority: 125 Number of votes obtained: Slovenia 97 Azerbaijan 90 Since no candidate obtained the required two- thirds majority in the previous ballot, there remain two seats to be filled, one from among the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States and one from among the Group of Eastern European States. We shall therefore proceed to the second restricted ballot. In accordance with established practice, there is an understanding to the effect that, of the three seats allocated to the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States, two should be filled by African States and one by an Asian-Pacific State. As Morocco and Pakistan have already been elected, the remaining seat for the Group of African and Asian-Pacific States should be filled by an African State. The third round of balloting shall be restricted to the two States from among the African and Asian- Pacific States that were not elected but that obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Togo and Mauritania; and 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, Azerbaijan and Slovenia. 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 “A” and “B” will now be distributed. May I ask representatives to write on the ballot papers the names of the States for which they wish to vote. Ballot papers marked “A” for African and Asian-Pacific States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Mauritania or Togo, as well as if they contain the names of more than one State. Ballot papers marked “B” for Eastern European States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Azerbaijan or Slovenia, as well as if they contain the names of more than one State. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Baptista (Angola), Mr. Tegos (Greece), Mrs. Dockendorf (Luxembourg), Mr. Bonifaz (Peru), Ms. Popovici (Republic of Moldova) and Ms. Wairatpanij (Thailand) acted as tellers. A vote was taken by secret ballot.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African and Asian-Pacific States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 192 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Togo 131 Mauritania 61 Group B — Eastern European States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 193 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 192 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Slovenia 99 Azerbaijan 93

There 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 late hour, I propose that we postpone further balloting until 3.30 p.m.