Pak backs Africa for UNSC seat

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan told the UN General Assembly Tuesday it understands Africa’s demand for permanent seats in an expanded U.N. Security Council, but remains opposed to the push by India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, the so-called G-4 countries, for the council’s permanent membership.Speaking in a debate on the stalled reform process of the 15-member body, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon said the reason Pakistan respects the African demand was that it was for the entire region, not for seeking permanent membership for individual States.“We believe that this model of regional representation, if applied to all other regions, could garner reciprocal support of those regions, and thus promote a feasible compromise solution for all”, he added.The council’s reform, aimed at making it more representative and effective, was backed by the 2005 world summit held at UN Headquarters in New York.Practically all member states agree on enlarging the membership of Council, but they are sharply divided over the details.In July 2005, the G-4 called for boosting its membership from 15 members to 25, with six new permanent seats without veto power and two for the African region as well as four non-permanent seats.The Italy/Pakistan-led “Uniting for Consensus” (UfC) group opposed any expansion of the permanent members on the Security Council.It sought enlargement of the council to 25 seats, with 10 new non-permanent members who would be elected for two-year terms, with the possibility of immediate re-election.The African Union’s called for the Council to be enlarged to 26 seats, one more permanent seat than the G-4 proposal. Its proposal for six new permanent seats was the same as the G-4’s, except that it would give the new members veto power.The approach that truly reflected new realities was that of regional representation, Ambassador Haroon said, underlining the Arab States call for a permanent Arab representation in any future expansion.The African position would see the African Union responsible for selecting its representatives, which, the G-4 said it supported, yet was unwilling to accept for itself. While Africa was united in its position, he said, the G-4 had created “serious rifts” in Asia, the Western European and Others Group, and the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

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