A/71/PV.86 General Assembly

Before electing five non-permanent members of the Security Council for the 2018-2019 term, the Assembly will first proceed to the by-election to elect a non-permanent member of the Security Council, in accordance with rule 140 of the rules of procedure. The election of five non-permanent members of the Council will take place immediately following this by- election. I would like to draw the attention of members to document A/71/896, which contains the text of a letter dated 2 May 2017 from the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly. In his letter, the Permanent Representative of Austria, in his capacity as Chair of the Group of Western European and other States, announces that Italy will relinquish its seat on the Security Council effective at the end of the day — midnight — on 31 December 2017, and that, for the required by-election, the Netherlands is the endorsed and only candidate of the Group of Western European and other States for the remainder of the term. As a result, a vacancy will occur, and a new non-permanent member must therefore be elected to fill the unexpired term of office of Italy, commencing on 1 January 2018 and expiring on 31 December 2018. Apart from the permanent members, Sweden is a non-permanent member of the Security Council in the year 2018 from among the Group of Western European and other States. Therefore, the name of that State, in addition to Italy, which will relinquish its seat, should not appear on the ballot papers. Pursuant to paragraph 3 resolution 1991 A (XVIII), of 17 December 1963, the non-permanent member should be elected from among the Group of Western European and other States. I should like to inform the Assembly that the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting will be declared elected. If none of the candidates obtains a two-thirds majority, there shall be additional ballots, the voting being restricted to the two candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the previous ballot. Also, consistent with past practice, in the case of a tie vote, and when it becomes necessary to determine the candidate 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?

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

My delegation has requested the floor before the by-election in order to state its position on this precedent. We have trust in and support the candidate for the seat from among the Group of Western European and other States. Nonetheless, we would like to point out that the Charter of the United Nations stipulates very clearly that the duration of the mandate for a non-permanent member of the Security Council is two years. That provision has been fully respected by all Member States to have been elected to the Security Council as non-permanent members since 1964. This new precedent could therefore have a negative impact on an organ that is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. Accordingly, we believe that the special agreement between Italy and the Netherlands to share a two-year mandate between the two countries is an exceptional arrangement based on a bilateral agreement between those two countries, and it should not be considered as setting a future precedent in electing non-permanent members of the Security Council.

In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, the election shall be held 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. In addition, ballot papers will be given only to the representative seated directly behind the country’s name plate. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. I would like to remind members that, at this stage, they are voting in the by-election for the one non-permanent seat from among the Group of Western European and other States. The election of five non-permanent members of the Council will take place immediately following this by-election. Ballot papers are now being distributed. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers that have been distributed and to write on the ballot the name of the one State for which they wish to vote. A ballot will be declared invalid if it contains the name of more than one Member State from among the Group of Western European and other States.

The result of the voting is as follows: Western European and other States Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 4 Number of valid ballots: 188 Abstentions: Number of members voting: 184 Required two-thirds majority: 123 Number of votes obtained: Netherlands 184

I congratulate the Netherlands on its election as a member of the Security Council. I would request members to remain in their seats in order to proceed with the election of five non-permanent members of the Security Council. There will be an opportunity for representatives to extend their congratulations to the Netherlands immediately following the adjournment of today’s meeting. The General Assembly will next 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 2017. The five outgoing non-permanent members are the following: Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay. Those five States cannot be re-elected. Their names should therefore not appear on the ballot papers. Members will recall that Italy relinquished its non-permanent seat on the Security Council, effective 1 January 2018, and that the Netherlands has just been elected to fill that vacancy. Apart from the five permanent members, the Security Council will include the following States in the year 2018: the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Sweden. The names of those States should therefore also not appear on the ballot papers. Of the five non-permanent members that will remain in office in the year 2018, two are from among African and Asia-Pacific States, one is from among Latin American and Caribbean States and two are from among Western European and other States. Consequently, pursuant to paragraph 3 of resolution 1991 A (XVIII), of 17 December 1963, the five non-permanent members should be elected according to the following pattern: three from African and Asia- Pacific States, one from Eastern European States and one from Latin American and Caribbean States. The ballot papers reflect this pattern. In accordance with established practice, there is an understanding to the effect that, of the three States to be elected from among the African and Asia-Pacific States, two should be from Africa and one should be from the Asia-Pacific region. I should like to inform the Assembly that those candidates — their number not to exceed 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 places remaining to be filled. Also, consistent with past practice, in the case of a tie vote, and when it becomes necessary to determine the candidate 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 Chairs of the respective regional groups of the following: for the three vacant seats from among the African and Asia-Pacific States, there are three endorsed candidates, namely, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Kuwait. For the one vacant seat from among the Eastern European States, there is one endorsed candidate, namely, Poland. For the one vacant seat from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, there is one endorsed candidate, namely, Peru. 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. In addition, ballot papers will be given only to the representative seated directly behind the country’s name plate. 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. I would ask representatives to write on the ballot papers marked “A”, for the African and Asia-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 of a region includes both the names of Member States that belong to and that are from outside of 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 Asia-Pacific States (3 seats) Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 0 Number of members voting: 192 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Côte d’Ivoire 189 Kuwait 188 Equatorial Guinea 185 Morocco 1 Guinea 1 Group B — Eastern European States (1 seat) Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 2 Number of members voting: 190 Required two-thirds majority: 127 Number of votes obtained: Poland 190 Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 5 Number of members voting: 187 Required two-thirds majority: 125 Number of votes obtained: Peru 186 Argentina 1

I congratulate the States that have been elected members of the Security Council. I thank the tellers for their assistance in this election. This concludes our consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda item 112.