S/PV.2561 Security Council

Mr. President, my colleagues in the Indian delegation and I are deeply touched by the kind sentiments you have expressed on behalf of the members of the Council and yourself. These will be duly conveyed to the Government and the people of India and to the bereaved family. 5. Since this tragic and sudden blow struck our nation, the spontaneous outpouring of sympathy, solace and support from all parts of the world has been a source of great comfort and encouragement to our peapie. Our democratic polity has been able to withstand this rude shock, and, thanks to the wisdom and resilience of our people, India, under the leadership ofour Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, is returning to normalcy. 6. 1 should like to reaffirm on this occasion our commitment to non-alignment, to the United Nations and to the historical continuity in our policies in favour of world peace, freedom, justice and economic ~IKI social development through international co-operation. 7. I wish to take this opportunity, Sir, to congratulate you on your assumption of the high office of the presidency of the Council for this month. We highiy appreciate your diplomatic skills and experience, as weti as your dedication and objectivity. I look forward to fruitful activity by the Council under your stewardship and assure you of my full co-operation. 8. 1 should like also to pay tribute to the admirable manner in which your predecessor, Mr. Bass&, rep resentalive of Burkina Faso, guided the affairs of the Council during the month of October. 9. The PRESIDENT (inrerprerarion from CkneseK I should like. on behalfofthecouncil, topaya tribute to Mr. L&mdre Bassole. representative of Butkina Faso, for his services as President of the Council in October. Mr. Bassole earned our profound gratitude for the dip lomatic skill and unfailing courtesy with which he guided the Council’s deliberations last month. The agenda was adopted. EkctIoudRvemembersdtlleIntcnntloMlcamrtd Jtiy!$/$i676, s1166WRev.l and A&l, SW681 . IO. The PRESIDENT (inrerprercrionfim Chinese): The Council will now proceed to the election.of five members of the International Court of Justice. in accordance with the Statute of the International COW of Justice. to fill the five seats which will hccome vacant 11. The updated list of candidates nominated by the national groups is contained in document S/16680/ Rev. 1. Documents S/16681 and Add.1 contain the curricula vitae of all the candidates. Document S/16680/ Rev. l/Add. 1 indicates that the Law Society of Kenya, the nominating national group of Kenya, has decided to withdraw the candidature of The Honourable Justice C. H. E. Miller. Consequently, his name does not ap pear on the ballot papers. 12. The Council also has before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General, in document S/16676, setting out the procedure to be followed in the conduct of the election. I should like to remind the Council that, under Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court, *‘Those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of votes in the General Assembly and in the Security Council shall be considered as elected.” The required majority in the Council is eight votes. If more than five candidates obtain the required majority, according to the procedure which has been followed in the past and which is set forth in paragraph 14 of the Secretary- General’s memorandum, a new vote wiI be held on all the candidates. If, on the other hand, in the first ballot the number of candidates obtaining the absolute majority is less tharrfive, the Council will proceed to a second ballot on the remaining vacancies, and balloting will continue until five of the candidates have obtained the required majority of votes. 13. Voting shall be held by secret ballot. When we proceed to the vote, members of the Council will receive a ballot containing the names of all the candidates. Members of the Council are requested to place an “x” next to the names of the live candidates for whom they wish to vote. Votes may be cast only for those candidates whose names appear on the ballot paper. Otherwise, the ballot will be considered invalid. 14.’ I should like to remind members of paragraph 11 of the Secretary-General’s memorandum, which specifies that “‘Each elector may vote for no more than five candidates on the first ballot”. Any ballot containing votes for more than five names will be considered invalid. When five candidates have obtained the required majority of votes, I shall communicate the result to the President of the General Assembly, and I shall request the Council to remain in session pending the receipt from the President of the General Assembly of the result of the voting in the Assembly. 15. The Council will now proceed to draw lots to select the two delegations to act as tellers. 16. The names of the delegations of the United Kingdom and the United States have been drawn, and I therefore request each of them to appoint one of its members to serve as teller. 17. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Chinese! I take it that the Council is now ready to proceed with the election of five members of the International Ce~rt of Justice. 18. I have now been informed that the ballot papers have been collected in the General Assembly. 19. The counting of the ballots in the Security Council will now begin. The tellers will now count the ballots. As agreed in our consultations, there will be two it& pendent countings of ballots: one by each of the tellers, A vote was taken by secret ballot. Number of ballot papers: IS Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: IS Required majority: a Number of votes obtained: Mr. Jens Evensen (Norway) . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Mr. Ni Zhengyu (China). . . . . . . . . . -. . . . 14 Mr. ManFred Laths (Poland). . . . . . . . . . . 13 Mr. Taslim Olawale Elias (Nigeria) . . . . . 12 Mr. Shigeru Oda (Japan) . . , . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Mr. Abdallah Fikri EI-Khani (Syrian Arab Republic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I...... 7 Mr. C. G. Weeramantry (Sri Lanka). . . . I 20. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Chinesel: The following five candidates have received the required m@ority of votes in the Council: Mr. Jens Eveusen, Mr. Ni Zhengyu, Mr. Madied Laths, Mr. Tardim Olawale Elias and Mr. Shigeru Oda. I shall commtmicate the results to the President of the General Assentbly. I request the Council to remain in session while WC wait for the President of the Assembly to inform the Council of the results of the voting in the Assembly. * * * 21 I The PRESIDENT (interpretation fivlm ChineseI: I should like to inform the members of the Council that I have just received from the President of the Getrend Assembly the following letter: “I have the honour to inform you that, at the S&d plenary meeting of the General Assembly. held tadey for the purpose of electing five members of the Internadonal Court OF Justice, the f&owing five car& dates obtained an absolute majority of votes in the General Assembly: Mr. Taslim Olawak El& &"---A *-- - -- l HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLlCATlONS United Nations publications may bc obtained from bookstores and diitributors throughout lc world. Consult your bookstore or write IO: United Nations, Sales Scaion. New York or Gcncva. 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