A/67/PV.27 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now proceed to the election of five non-permanent members of the Security Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 2012. The five outgoing non-permanent members are the following: Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa. Those five States cannot be re-elected. Their names, therefore, should not appear on the ballot papers. Apart from the five permanent members, the Security Council will include in the year 2013 the following States: Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Pakistan, Morocco and Togo. The names of those States, therefore, should also not appear on the ballot papers. Of the five non-permanent members that will remain in office in the year 2013, three are from Africa and Asia-Pacific, one is from Eastern Europe and one is from Latin America and the Caribbean. Consequently, pursuant to paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 1991 A (XVIII), of 17 December 1963, the five non-permanent members should be elected according to the following pattern: two from Africa and Asia- Pacific, one from Latin American and the Caribbean, and two from Western Europe and other States. The ballot papers reflect that pattern. In accordance with established practice, there is an understanding to the effect that, of the two States to be elected from Africa and Asia-Pacific, one should be from Africa and one from Asia-Pacific. I should like to inform the Assembly that those candidates — their number not exceeding the number of seats to be filled — receiving the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting will be declared elected. If the number of candidates obtaining a two-thirds majority is less than the number of members to be elected, there shall be additional ballots to fill the remaining places, the voting being restricted to the candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the previous ballot to a number not more than twice the seats remaining to be filled. Also, consistent with past practice, in case a tie vote should make it necessary to determine the candidate to be elected or that will proceed to the next round of restricted balloting, 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 these procedures?

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 two vacant seats from among the African and Asia-Pacific States, four candidates have been designated, namely, Bhutan, Cambodia, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda. For the one vacant seat from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there is one endorsed candidate, namely, Argentina. For the two vacant seats fromm among the Western European and other States, there are three candidates, namely, Australia, Finland and Luxembourg. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot. I now give the floor to the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a point of order.

My delegation is speaking on a point of order to recall that the Charter of the United Nations confers on the Security Council the principal responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. In that regard, the States that are to have seats in the Council should be peace- and justice-loving countries. Beyond its destabilizing role in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda today is a haven of tranquillity for all war criminals operating in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and who are wanted by the international justice system. As such, my delegation objects to Rwanda being elected to the Security Council as a non-permanent member.

I take note of that statement, and I would like to remind the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 on the ballot papers marked “A”, for the African and Asia-Pacific States, the names of the two States for which they wish to vote; 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; and on the ballot papers marked “C”, for the Western European and other States, the name of the two States 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 of a region includes both the names of Member States that belong to and 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.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African and Asian-Pacifi c States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 1 Number of members voting: 192 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Rwanda 148 Republic of Korea 116 Cambodia 62 Bhutan 20 United Republic of Tanzania 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1 Group B — Latin American and Caribbean States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 8 Number of members voting: 184 Required two-thirds majority: 123 Number of votes obtained: Argentina 182 Barbados 1 Cuba 1 Group C — Western European and Other 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: Australia 140 Luxembourg 128 Finland 108

There remain two seats to be filled, one from among the African and Asian-Pacific States and one from among the Western European and other States. In accordance with established practice, there is an understanding to the effect that, of the two seats allocated to the African and Asian-Pacific States, one should be filled by an African State and one by an Asia- Pacific State. As Rwanda has already been elected, the remaining seat from among the African and Asian- Pacific States should be filled by an Asian-Pacific State. We shall therefore proceed to the first restricted ballot. The second round of balloting shall be restricted to those two States from among the African and Asian- Pacific States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Cambodia and the Republic of Korea, and those two States from among the Western European and other States that were not elected but obtained the largest number of votes in the previous ballot, namely, Finland and Luxembourg. 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. 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 the African and Asia-Pacific States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Cambodia or the Republic of Korea, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State. Ballot papers marked “B” for the Western European and other States will be declared invalid if they contain the name of a State other than Finland or Luxembourg, as well as if they contain the name of more than one State.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African and Asian-Pacifi c States Number of ballot papers: 193 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 192 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Republic of Korea 149 Cambodia 43 Group C — Western European and other 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: Luxembourg 131 Finland 62

The following five States have thus been elected members of the Security Council for a mandate of two years, beginning on 1 January 2013: Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda. I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Security Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda item 109.