A/66/PV.66 General Assembly

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 191 Required absolute majority: 97 Number of votes obtained: Ms. Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) 102 Mr. Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) 89 Ms. Julia Sebutinde has obtained an absolute majority in the General Assembly. I have communicated the result of the voting to the President of the Security Council. I have received a letter from the President of the Security Council, which reads: “I have the honour to inform you that at the 6667th meeting of the Security Council, held on 22 November 2011, for the purpose of electing five members of the International Court of Justice for a term of office beginning on 6 February 2012, Mr. Abdul G. Koroma obtained an absolute majority of votes.” As a result of the voting that has taken place independently in the General Assembly and the Security Council, no candidate has obtained an absolute majority in both bodies. The General Assembly will therefore proceed to hold a ninth ballot to fill the remaining vacancy. However, in view of the lateness of the hour, that ballot will take place on a later date to be announced. I now give the floor to the representative of Solomon Islands on a point of order.

I take the floor to make a proposal in order to move forward on this important matter. I propose that we mandate the President of the General Assembly to hold informal consultations to consider the way forward on this issue. We have held several rounds of voting and I believe that we have expressed ourselves. We now need to move to the next level. In that connection, my delegation proposes that we seek the President’s consideration in undertaking the task of consulting countries and regional groups and then reporting to the Assembly.

I now give the floor to the representative of Burundi on a point of order.

My delegation would like to second the proposal made by the representative of Solomon Islands with a view to try to determine how to finalize this process. We cannot continue with elections forever.

The President of the General Assembly will remain under the authority of the Assembly, and will begin informal consultations to determine how to move the issue forward. We will consult with Member States on the proposal and communicate to members the results of the consultations.