Security Council Elections 2019 - Security Council Report

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Research Report

   Security Council Elections 2019

   View of Retno Lestari Priansari
   Marsudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs
                                           Introduction: The 2019 Elections
   of Indonesia, expressing gratutude
   as Indonesia is elected to the
   Security Council. On her right side
   is Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani      On 7 June, the 73rd session of the UN General              Group (GRULAC, currently held by Peru); and
   (Indonesia) 8 June 2018 (UN Photo/      Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for the          • one seat for the Eastern European Group (cur-
   Manuel Elias)
                                           Security Council. The five seats available for elec-       rently held by Poland).
                                           tion in 2019 according to the regular distribution         The Western European and Others Group
                                           among regions will be as follows:                      (WEOG) is not contesting any seats this year as its
   2019, No. #2                            • two seats for the African Group (currently held      two seats, held by Belgium and Germany through
   14 May 2019
                                            by Côte d´Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea);              2020, come up for election every other year. The
   This report is available online at      • one seat for the Asia-Pacific Group (currently       five new members elected this year will take up
   securitycouncilreport.org.
                                            held by Kuwait);                                      their seats on 1 January 2020 and will serve until 31
   For daily insights by SCR on evolving
   Security Council actions please
                                           • one seat for the Latin American and Caribbean        December 2021.
   subscribe to our “What’s In Blue”
   series at whatsinblue.org or follow
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Security Council Report Research Report May 2019                                                                              securitycouncilreport.org   1
1    Introduction: The 2019 Elections   The 2019 Candidates
   2    The 2019 Candidates
   4    Likely Council Dynamics in 2020
                                           Six member states—Estonia, Niger, Roma-           in 1962 and 1963 between Romania and the
   6    The Process of Election            nia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuni-      Philippines (1962, 1976-1977, 1990-1991
   7    Regional Groups and Established    sia and Viet Nam—are currently running for        and 2004-2005); Tunisia has served three
        Practices                          the five available seats. Estonia and Romania     times (1959-1960, 1980-1981 and 2000-
   9    The 2017-2018 Split Term           are contesting the single Eastern European        2001); and Viet Nam has served once (2008–
   10 Becoming a Candidate                 Group seat, while the other four candidates       2009). Estonia and Saint Vincent and the
   10 Campaigning for the Council
                                           will run unopposed. Four of the six candi-        Grenadines have never served on the Council.
                                           dates have served on the Council previously:         The table below shows the number of
   11   UN Documents on Security
                                           Niger has served once, forty years ago (1980-     seats available per region in the 2019 elec-
        Council Elections
                                           1981); Romania has served four times, start-      tion, the declared candidates, and their prior
   11   Useful Additional Resources        ing with one year as a result of the split term   terms on the Council.
   12 Annex 1: Rules and Process for
      Election to the Council: Relevant
                                           REGION                          SEATS                  MEMBER STATES RUNNING AND
      Charter Provisions and Rules of
                                                                           AVAILABLE IN           PREVIOUS TERMS ON THE COUNCIL
      Procedure
                                                                           2019
   13 Annex 2: Historical Background
                                           Africa                          2                      Niger (1980-1981) and Tunisia (1959-1960,
   13 Annex 3: Results of Recent
                                                                                                  1980-1981, 2000-2001)
      Elections for Non-Permanent
      Members of the Council               Asia-Pacific                    1                      Viet Nam (2008-2009)

                                           Latin America and Caribbean     1                      Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (never
                                                                                                  served)

                                           Eastern Europe                  1                      Estonia (never served) and Romania (1962,
                                                                                                  1976-1977, 1990-1991, 2004-2005)

                                              Romania, with four previous terms, and         the Central Africa seat currently held by
                                           Tunisia, with three previous terms, have the      Equatorial Guinea. Tunisia will also fill
                                           most prior Council experience, followed by        the Arab swing seat, which alternates every
                                           Niger and Viet Nam, each having served            odd calendar year between the Asia-Pacific
                                           one term. Estonia and Saint Vincent and the       Group and the African Group and is being
                                           Grenadines are among the 65 UN member             vacated by Kuwait on 31 December 2019.
                                           states—34 percent of the total membership—        (The Arab swing seat is described in greater
                                           that have never served on the Council.            detail below.)

                                           African Seats                                     Niger
                                           Three non-permanent seats are allocated to        Niger became a UN member in 1960 after
                                           Africa. One seat comes up for election during     gaining its independence from France that
                                           every even calendar year, and two seats are       year and has served on the Security Coun-
                                           contested during odd years. Although there        cil once (1980-1981). Its candidacy for the
                                           have been exceptions, elections for seats allo-   2020-2021 seat was endorsed by the AU fol-
                                           cated to Africa tend to be uncontested, as the    lowing the organisation’s 32nd Ordinary Ses-
                                           African Group maintains an established pat-       sion in January/February after Ghana, which
                                           tern of rotation among its five sub-regions       has served on the Security Council three
                                           (North Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa,      times (most recently in 2006-2007), with-
                                           West Africa and Central Africa), as described     drew as a potential candidate. Niger circu-
                                           in greater detail below.                          lated a note verbale presenting its candida-
                                              This year, Niger is running unopposed for      ture to the permanent missions and observer
                                           the West Africa seat currently held by Côte       missions of the UN on 7 May.
                                           d’Ivoire. The fact that Niger, a Francophone          As at 31 March, Niger contributes 941
                                           country, will succeed another Francophone         personnel to four UN peace operations,
                                           country, Côte d’Ivoire, departs from a general    predominantly to the UN Multidimension-
                                           pattern of this seat alternating between Anglo-   al Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali
                                           phone and Francophone countries in the past.      (MINUSMA).
                                              Tunisia is running unopposed for the
                                           North Africa seat, which will rotate with

2 whatsinblue.org                                                                             Security Council Report Research Report   May 2019
The 2019 Candidates

Tunisia                                             October until 7 November). As a result of      Estonia
Tunisia became a UN member in 1956 after            this experience, an informal understanding     Estonia became a UN member in 1991 fol-
gaining its independence from France that           developed among GRULAC members to              lowing its regaining of independence from
year, and has served on the Security Coun-          avoid contested elections, starting with the   the Soviet Union and has never served on
cil three times, at roughly 20-year intervals       2007 elections for the 2008-2009 term. Since   the Security Council. It submitted its can-
(1959-1960, 1980-1981 and 2000-2001).               then, Mexico (2008), Brazil (2009), Colom-     didacy for the 2020-2021 term in 2005 and
Its candidacy for the 2020-2021 seat was            bia (2010), Guatemala (2011), Argentina        launched its official campaign in July 2017.
endorsed by the AU at the organisation’s 31st       (2012), Chile (2013), Venezuela (2014), Uru-       In its campaign, Estonia identified cyber-
Ordinary Session in June/July 2018 and, prior       guay (2015), Bolivia (2016), Peru (2017) and   security as high on its list of priorities, includ-
to that, by the Arab Group.                         the Dominican Republic (2018) have all been    ing in the context of threats of cyber-attacks.
    During its campaign, Tunisia has empha-         sole candidates for the GRULAC seat on the     Climate change and climate security has also
sised that peace, security, development and         Security Council. This year, Saint Vincent     been highlighted as an area of particular pri-
human rights are interrelated. It aims to use       and the Grenadines is running unopposed        ority. Its campaign has highlighted the coun-
its term on the Security Council to prioritise      for the seat currently held by Peru.           try’s commitment to sharing its experience
conflict prevention, including through pro-                                                        and best practices in finding digital solutions.
moting sustainable peace and strengthen-            Saint Vincent and the Grenadines               It has also highlighted conflict prevention
ing ties between the UN and regional bod-           Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became a      as a priority: in this context, Estonia would
ies, particularly the AU and League of Arab         UN member in 1980 after gaining its inde-      aim to focus more attention and resources
States; the peaceful and negotiated settlement      pendence from the UK in 1979, and has never    on conflict prevention and increased Security
of disputes, particularly in conflicts in Afri-     served on the Security Council. It submitted   Council efforts dedicated to this end, includ-
ca and the Middle East, notably the Pales-          its candidacy for the 2020-2021 term in 2010   ing working with member states, the UN
tine issue; promoting the role of women and         and was endorsed by GRULAC in Novem-           system, and regional organisations towards
youth; and the fight against terrorism. It also     ber 2018 and, prior to that, by the Caribbean  facilitating peaceful solutions. Another area
seeks to focus on UN peacekeeping opera-            Community (CARICOM). If elected, Saint         of priority that Estonia would seek to work
tions through promoting greater effectiveness,      Vincent and the Grenadines will be the first   towards is greater accountability, coherence,
clear and realistic mandates, and resource          CARICOM member to serve on the Security        and transparency of the Security Council’s
mobilisation. Additionally, Tunisia has high-       Council since Jamaica’s 2000-2001 term.        activities through increased inclusiveness
lighted the need to foster collective and con-          In its campaign, Saint Vincent and the     and targeted action. Estonia belongs to the
sensual responses to climate change and             Grenadines has emphasised the importance       Accountability, Coherence and Transparency
cyber-threats. Tunisia was the first African        of advancing security-related issues around    Group (ACT), an initiative launched in 2013
country to preside over the General Assembly        climate change, sustainable development,       by a group of member states focusing on the
(during its 16th session in 1961/1962) and          disarmament, and human rights. It has also     Security Council’s working methods, particu-
was president of the Economic and Social            expressed interest in promoting the role of    larly those that enhance non-members’ inter-
Council in 1971 and 2006. It is currently a         women and youth in conflict prevention and     action with the Council. During its campaign,
member of the Human Rights Council for              resolution. It has emphasised its commitment   Estonia has referred to the key role it played,
the term 2017-2019.                                 to multilateralism and strengthening the rule  along with Costa Rica, on behalf of ACT dur-
    Tunisia has contributed to 22 peace-            of law as well as the principles of non-inter- ing the selection and appointment process for
keeping operations since 1960. As at 31             vention and non-interference. As a member of   the ninth Secretary-General in 2016. Esto-
March, it contributes 239 personnel across          CARICOM, it signed on in February as a part    nia also emphasised that as a small country
six UN peace operations, predominantly              of the “Montevideo Mechanism”, which seeks     it intends to bring a small state perspective,
MINUSMA.                                            to resolve the situation in Venezuela through  and – if elected - to act as an advocate for the
                                                    dialogue. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines     common interests of small states.
GRULAC Seat                                         recently chaired the Fifth Committee of the        As at 31 March, Estonia contributes sev­
Two non-permanent seats are allocated to            General Assembly and is currently president    en personnel to three UN peace operations.
Latin America and the Caribbean, with one           of the Economic and Social Council.
coming up for election every year. Since                Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is not Romania
2008, candidates for the GRULAC seat have           currently a troop- or police-contributing Romania became a UN member in 1955 and
run unopposed. In 2006, elections for the           country.                                       has served on the Security Council four times
GRULAC seat on the Security Council were                                                           (1962, 1976-1977, 1990-1991 and 2004-
inconclusive after 47 rounds of voting over         Eastern European Seat                          2005), with the first time being one year as
several weeks. With the General Assembly            One non-permanent seat on the Council is a result of the split term in 1962 and 1963
unable to decide between Guatemala and              allocated to Eastern Europe. This seat comes between Romania and the Philippines. It sub-
Venezuela, Panama agreed to stand and was           up for election every odd calendar year. In mitted its candidacy for the 2020-2021 term
elected on the 48th round as the compro-            2019, Estonia and Romania are contesting in 2006 and launched its official campaign
mise candidate (the process lasted from 16          the single seat currently held by Poland.      in June 2017.

Security Council Report Research Report May 2019                                                                          securitycouncilreport.org   3
The 2019 Candidates

   In its campaign, Romania has empha-                  Romania’s campaign emphasised its over-         several priority areas, including conflict pre-
sised several priority areas, including improv-     all contributions of personnel to UN peace          vention, preventive diplomacy, and strength-
ing the Security Council’s working meth-            operations, namely around 12,500 troops to          ened implementation of Chapter VI of the
ods, transparency and efficiency; promoting         25 UN peacekeeping missions over 28 years.          UN Charter relating to the peaceful settle-
conflict prevention through early-warning           As at 31 March, it contributes 54 person-           ment of disputes. It also identified improving
and preventive-action mechanisms; making            nel to eight UN peace operations. Romania           the working methods of the Security Council;
UN peacekeeping more effective through              has announced its intention to deploy four          enhancing engagement with regional arrange-
clear and effective mandates and adequate           military utility helicopters (together with 120     ments, including the Association of Southeast
resource allocation; and enhancing coopera-         troops) to MINUSMA in 2019.                         Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which it is a mem-
tion between the UN and regional and sub-                                                               ber and which it will chair in 2020; protection
regional organisations. It has also expressed       Asia-Pacific Seat                                   of civilians and critical civilian infrastructure
interest in promoting protection of women           Two non-permanent seats are allocated to the        in armed conflict; and peacekeeping. Addi-
and children in armed conflict and the linkag-      Asia-Pacific Group, with one coming up for          tionally, Viet Nam has highlighted its inter-
es between climate change and peacebuilding         election every year (similar to the GRULAC          est in thematic issues, such as women, peace
and sustaining peace. Additionally, Romania         seat). This year, Viet Nam is running unop-         and security and children and armed conflict.
has highlighted the need to promote innova-         posed for the seat currently held by Kuwait.        Addressing the aftermath of armed conflicts,
tive solutions to new and emerging threats                                                              including threats to civilian populations posed
to international peace and security, includ-        Viet Nam                                            by landmines and explosive remnants of war,
ing asymmetric threats and cyber-threats.           Viet Nam became a UN member in 1977                 is also identified as a priority, and continues
Romania has recently chaired several UN             and has served on the Security Council once         to be a problem in Viet Nam.
bodies, including the Group of Govern-              (2008-2009). It submitted its candidacy for the         Viet Nam was recently a member of the
mental experts on Transparency of Military          2020-2021 term in 2009 and was endorsed by          Human Rights Council (2014-2016) and the
Expenditures (2015-2016); the Intergovern-          the Asia-Pacific Group in May 2018.                 Economic and Social Council (2016-2018).
mental Process for Security Council Reform             During its campaign,Viet Nam has stressed            As at 31 March, it contributes 73 person­
(2017-2018); the Peacebuilding Commis-              that it is a strong proponent of multilateral-      nel to two UN peace operations, predomi­
sion (2018, vice-chair in 2019); the Group of       ism, both globally and regionally, to promote       nantly to the UN Mission in South Sudan
Francophone Ambassadors to the UN (2018             sustainable development, address climate            (UNMISS).
and 2019); and the First Committee of the           change, build inclusive societies, and pro-
General Assembly (2018-2019).                       tect and promote human rights. It identified

Likely Council Dynamics in 2020

The current fractured state of Council rela-        2019, by press time, there has been one proce-      change; hunger and conflict; peace operations;
tions, particularly among the permanent             dural vote on a new agenda item; Russian and        peacebuilding; and women, peace and securi-
members, seems likely to persist following the      Chinese vetoes of a draft resolution on Ven-        ty. On many of these issues, elected members
departure of the five current non-permanent         ezuela; and adoption of three non-consensual        have worked together to negotiate successful
members and the arrival of five newly-elected       resolutions: on South Sudan (Russia abstain-        outcomes and integrate themes into country-
members. Throughout 2018, this was reflect-         ing); Haiti (Dominican Republic and Russia          specific situations. Although it is difficult to
ed in the difficulty of obtaining consensus on      abstaining); and sexual violence in conflict        assess how the Council’s dynamics might
Council resolutions. This is not entirely new:      (China and Russia abstaining).                      evolve next year, the priorities raised in the
the number of vetoed and non-consensus                  In the face of acute divisions among the        campaigns by the candidates, as well as their
resolutions has been rising for eight years.        permanent members, the ten elected mem-             long-standing interests, provide an indication
In 2018, three resolutions were vetoed while        bers (E10) have emerged more strongly as an         of some general patterns that might emerge.
four tabled drafts failed because of insufficient   active group despite their political differences,       During its campaign, Estonia placed
votes.There were also four procedural votes in      enhancing their contribution to the substan-        cyber-security high on its list of priorities,
2018, a number not seen since the early 1990s.      tive work of the Council. The elected mem-          including in the context of responding to
The recent recourse to these votes, on issues       bers can be expected to continue to play a sig-     threats of cyber-attacks and developing inter-
including adding a new agenda item, whether         nificant role. Recent examples have included        national norms and standards to deal with
a Council meeting can take place as proposed,       pushing the Council to address humanitarian         this issue. Tunisia and Romania also high-
or the identity of a briefer is an indicator of     issues in Syria and Yemen as well as advanc-        lighted cyber-security in their campaigns. To
changed dynamics, and may also reflect great-       ing thematic issues, including children and         date, there has been limited engagement by
er assertiveness among elected members. In          armed conflict; conflict prevention; climate        the Council on this issue. However, Spain and

4 whatsinblue.org                                                                                        Security Council Report Research Report   May 2019
Likely Council Dynamics in 2020

Senegal (elected members in 2016) organised           (S/RES/1631). If elected, Romania is expect-           to Romania and Viet Nam, Tunisia has indi-
an Arria-formula meeting on cyber-security            ed again to focus on these issues.                     cated that one of its priorities is the strength-
and international peace and security on 28                Saint Vincent and the Grenadines cam-              ening of ties with regional bodies, notably the
November that year. Estonia is the only can-          paigned on emphasising the need to address             AU and League of Arab States.
didate that is a member of ACT; if elected it         the effects of climate change and the linkages             Viet Nam, during its previous term on the
will be the only Security Council member in           between climate and security. Estonia similarly        Security Council from 2008 to 2009, was
that category, as ACT member Peru leaves              identified this issue as high up on its list of pri-   particularly engaged around issues relating to
the Council at the end of this year. In this          orities. Romania, Tunisia and Viet Nam also            post-conflict reconstruction, terrorism, sanc-
regard, Estonia would seek to further advance         highlighted the need to address the issue dur-         tions, peacekeeping and improving the trans-
the goals of ACT, including around working            ing their campaigns. Because of its geographi-         parency of the work of the Council. During
methods of the Council and enhancing non-             cal location and vulnerability to the effects of       its presidency of the Council, resolution 1889
members’ interaction with the Council. The            climate change, Niger may also join in efforts         was adopted on 5 October 2009, focusing on
goals of ACT are likely to resonate with oth-         to promote action on this matter.The question          responding to the needs of women and girls
er Council members that, while not part of            of whether the Council is an appropriate body          in post-conflict situations. Viet Nam is likely
the group, are committed to enhancing the             to discuss climate change has been raised ever         to seek to further its contribution to these
accountability, effectiveness and legitimacy of       since 17 April 2007 when the Council held its          issues on the Council. It is also likely to take
the Council.                                          first open debate to discuss possible implica-         a particular interest in the situation in South
    A key issue facing Niger is the deteriorating     tions of climate change for international peace        Sudan, given that it contributes most of its
security situation in West Africa and the Sahel.      and security. While not expressing the same            UN troops to UNMISS. As a member of
This includes rising concerns over develop-           level of criticism about Council involvement           ASEAN, and the chair of the organisation in
ments in Burkina Faso, which could have               as Russia, China and the US have both shown            2020, Viet Nam is likely to advocate for stron-
broader spill-over effects on West Africa, and        some ambivalence. However, other Council               ger engagement with regional arrangements
the situation in the Lake Chad Basin. Niger           members, including permanent members                   and to be actively engaged on the Council’s
faces a “triple threat” as a result of the conflict   France and the UK, strongly support Council            consideration of the situation in Myanmar,
in Mali to its east, the war in Libya to its north,   engagement on the issue. Most recently, on 25          along with current Council member Indone-
and the presence of Boko Haram in the south-          January, under the presidency of the Domini-           sia, which is also a member of ASEAN.
east, so it can be expected to take a particular      can Republic, the Security Council held an                 The role of the Council in designing and
interest in these issues on the Council’s agen-       open debate focused on addressing the impact           overseeing the mandates of peacekeeping
da. As part of the Joint Force of the Group of        of climate-related disasters on international          operations may have particular resonance for
Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel), established in         peace and security. Over 70 Council and other          several candidates who contribute personnel
2017 to combat terrorist and criminal groups          member states participated.                            to UN peace missions. They can be expected
in the Sahel, Niger is likely to be especially            Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is likely         to build upon ongoing efforts by the Coun-
interested in the Council’s engagement on             to take a keen interest in the situation in Haiti,     cil and the Secretariat to improve mandating,
this, and also in MINUSMA, to which Niger             given its geographical proximity, as is the case       including through strategic assessments of
is a significant troop-contributor. (The Secu-        with current Council member the Domini-                peacekeeping operations, in order to increase
rity Council visited Niger in March 2017 as           can Republic. With the potential transition            their effectiveness and efficiency. As troop-
part of its visiting mission to the Lake Chad         to a Special Political Mission following the           and police-contributing countries, Estonia,
Basin and Burkina Faso and Mali, focused on           final renewal of the UN Mission for Justice            Niger, Romania, Tunisia and Viet Nam are
the efforts of the G5 Sahel and on the situa-         Support in Haiti until 15 October, by resolu-          all likely to be interested, if elected, in fine-
tion in Burkina Faso in March 2019.)                  tion 2466 adopted on 12 April, it is likely that       tuning the Council’s approach to mandating
    During its Security Council campaign,             Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will seek             and encouraging constructive engagement
Romania has placed peacebuilding high on its          to influence this process so as to secure sta-         with other troop- and police-contributors in
list of priorities. Romania chaired the Peace-        bility. Given its involvement in regional dia-         this regard. The campaigns of Romania and
building Commission (PBC) in 2018 and has             logue efforts in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and          Tunisia, in particular, highlighted the priority
served as vice-chair in 2019. If elected, Roma-       the Grenadines may also want to be active in           they would give to mandating.
nia can be expected to foster cooperation             the Council’s engagement on the issue.                     The conflict prevention and sustaining
between the Security Council and the PBC.                 Tunisia can be expected to emphasise               peace agenda is a common priority among this
During its most recent term on the Security           African issues, which make up the bulk of the          year’s candidates, which is also in line with the
Council from 2004 to 2005, Romania was                Council’s agenda. Given that it contributes            Secretary-General’s emphasis on these issues.
particularly engaged around preventive diplo-         most of its UN troops to MINUSMA, Tuni-                Several candidates, including Estonia, Roma-
macy and post-conflict reconstruction as well         sia is likely to take particular interest in this      nia, Tunisia and Viet Nam, could be expected
as cooperation between the UN and regional            file along with Niger. Representing the can-           to further advance this work if elected to the
organisations, with the first resolution on the       didature for the Arab Swing Seat, Tunisia is           Council. Over the past several years, there has
latter adopted during Romania’s presidency            also expected to be involved in Middle East            been noticeable interest in strengthening the
of the Security Council on 17 October 2005            issues, in particular Israel/Palestine. Similarly,     PBC, triggered in part by the 2015 review

Security Council Report Research Report May 2019                                                                                   securitycouncilreport.org   5
Likely Council Dynamics in 2019

of the UN peacebuilding architecture (the           candidates’ agendas during recent election             the provisions of its 2016 note on transitional
PBC, Peacebuilding Support Office and the           cycles. Although there have been some posi-            arrangements into a comprehensive docu-
Peacebuilding Fund). Subsequently, both the         tive developments in respect of the Council’s          ment on working methods, note by the presi-
General Assembly and the Security Council           working methods, most elected members                  dent S/2017/507. Later that year, the Council
adopted comprehensive resolutions on peace-         have continued to draw attention to aspects            agreed on the selection of chairs by the end of
building. These also established the notion         of the Council’s work that need further                the first week of October, while most recently,
of “sustaining peace” and the understanding         improvement. These include inadequate time             the president of the Security Council issued a
of peacebuilding as a set of activities to be       to negotiate Council outcomes and the lim-             note on 2 January on the chairs and vice-chairs
undertaken to prevent conflict as well as dur-      ited interactivity of Council meetings.                of subsidiary bodies for the period ending on
ing peacemaking and peacekeeping.                       The five departing Council members serve           31 December 2019 (S/2019/2).
    Over the past several years, more of the        as the chairs of eight sanctions committees and            In a letter to the president of the Secu-
Council’s elected members have emphasised           six other subsidiary bodies. Recent years have         rity Council on 13 November 2018, the per-
the interlinkages between development and           seen a trend towards increased transparency in         manent representatives of 15 countries, both
international peace and security. This trend is     the work of the sanctions committees, includ-          elected and incoming Council members—
likely to continue next year since several candi-   ing public briefings by the chairs, engagement         Belgium, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican
dates have stressed the importance of this issue    with regional actors, and several field visits.        Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ger-
and have supported the 2030 Agenda for Sus-         This will be the fourth time that the Council          many, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, the
tainable Development.The tendency of elected        elections are held more than six months prior          Netherlands, Peru, Poland, South African
members to widen the scope of the Council’s         to the start of the new term, in line with Gener-      and Sweden—stressed their conviction that
work on conflict prevention has led to some         al Assembly resolution A/RES/68/307, making            a more equal distribution of work among all
difficult dynamics among its members.The P3         it possible to select the new chairs considerably      members, including through co-penholder-
have been receptive to Council discussions of       earlier than was the case until 2016. After the        ships, would improve the overall effectiveness
links between specific aspects of development       2016 elections, Council members agreed on a            of the Council (S/2018/1024). The letter also
and peace and security. However, China and          note by the president (S/2016/619) concern-            highlighted the connection between the pen-
Russia have been more cautious in this regard       ing transitional arrangements for newly elected        holdership and the chairing of sanctions com-
and have advocated keeping the Council’s            members in which, among other matters, they            mittees, saying the Council ought to “make
agenda more narrowly focused on issues that         indicated the desirability of appointing the           better use of the expertise that the Chairs of
primarily involve situations of armed conflict.     chairs of subsidiary bodies by 1 October. In           sanctions committees develop on the situa-
    There appears to be a strong desire among       2016, agreement on the distribution of chair-          tions discussed in their respective committees
most candidates to enhance the transpar-            manships was reached on 31 October, though             and should consider promoting their role as
ency and inclusiveness of the Council’s             this was still significantly earlier than in previ-    penholders and the automaticity of their role
work. This has been a prominent trend in            ous years. In 2017, the Council incorporated           as co-penholders on the related dossiers”.

The Process of Election

Elections to the Council, as with other princi-     obtains the required number of votes in the first          In theory, it is possible that a country run-
pal organs of the UN, require formal balloting      round, voting in the next round is restricted          ning unopposed might not garner the required
even if candidates have been endorsed by their      to the candidates that received the most votes.        number of votes of those present in the Gener-
regional group and are running unopposed.           In this restricted ballot, the number of coun-         al Assembly in the first round of voting. Such a
A candidate country must always obtain the          tries included is limited to twice the number of       country may then be challenged in subsequent
votes of two-thirds of the member states pres-      vacant seats; for example, if one seat is available,   rounds—by hitherto undeclared candidates -
ent and voting at the General Assembly ses-         only two countries can contest this round—the          and could ultimately fail to obtain a seat. How-
sion. This means that at least 129 votes are        two who received the most votes. Any votes for         ever, this has never happened.
required to win a seat, if all 193 UN member        other candidates during this restricted voting             Historically, there have been several
states vote. Member states that abstain are         round are considered void. This restricted vot-        instances in which extended rounds of voting
considered not voting. Under Article 19 of the      ing process can continue for up to three rounds        were required to fill a contested seat. This was
UN Charter, a member state can be excluded          of voting. If no candidate has then garnered the       more common before the Council’s enlarge-
from voting as a result of arrears in payment       required number of votes, unrestricted voting          ment from 11 to 15 members in 1966, when
of financial contributions. At press time, Libya    is reopened for up to three rounds.This pattern        it led to several agreements to split terms,
was the only member not permitted to vote in        of restricted and unrestricted voting continues        such as the 1962-1963 term, split between
the General Assembly because of its arrears.        until a candidate is successful in securing the        Romania and the Philippines, in that order.
    In a contested election, if no candidate        required two-thirds majority.                          Extended voting has still occurred despite

6 whatsinblue.org                                                                                           Security Council Report Research Report   May 2019
The Process of Election

the Council’s enlargement, although after           candidate. The sole exception to this practice in the General Assembly elections for non-
1966 such situations have, with one exception,      since 1966 was the 2016 agreement between permanent seats on the Security Council is
been re solved by the withdrawal of one of the      Italy and the Netherlands to split the 2017- contained in Annex 3 of this report.
contenders or the election of a compromise          2018 term. A summary of the recent voting

Regional Groups and Established Practices

For purposes of elections to the Security Coun-        The US is not a member of any group but        but which withdrew from membership in the
cil, the regional groups have been governed by      attends meetings of WEOG as an observer           OAU in 1984 after the organisation admit-
a formula set out in General Assembly reso-         and is considered a member of this group          ted the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
lution 1991 A (XVIII), which was adopted in         for electoral purposes. In May 2000 Israel        In January 2017, Morocco joined the AU.)
1963 and took effect in 1966.The main feature       became a WEOG member, on a temporary              Subregional organisations may add their
of the resolution was to amend the UN Charter       basis (subject to renewal), in WEOG’s head-       endorsement before the list goes to the AU
to increase the number of Council members           quarters in the US, thereby enabling it to        Ministerial Committee. The AU Executive
from 11 to 15. Under this resolution, the seats     put forward candidates for election to vari-      Committee makes the final decision during
previously assigned to the African and Asia-        ous UN General Assembly bodies. In 2004           an AU summit meeting. Despite the written
Pacific states were combined. In reality, how-      Israel obtained a permanent renewal to its        rules of procedure for candidate selection,
ever, the candidates for election to the African    membership.                                       some countries have in the past submitted
and Asia-Pacific seats operate separately, and                                                        their candidature directly to the AU Ministe-
this report reflects that customary practice.       African Group                                     rial Committee on Candidatures, bypassing
    Article 23 of the Charter, which estab-         Most of the groups have internal selection        the process in New York.
lishes the number of Council members, also          processes based on informal understand-               The African rotation generally follows
specifies the criteria that the members of the      ings. The African Group is the exception, as      a systematic cycle based on the following
General Assembly are to apply when consid-          it has adopted the rules of procedure of the      principle:
ering which countries should be elected to          AU’s Ministerial Committee on Candida-              • Northern Africa and Central Africa rotate
serve on the Council. It provides that due          tures within the International System for the         running for one seat every odd calendar
regard shall be “specially paid, in the first       selection of candidates to occupy the three           year;
instance to the contribution of Members of          African seats on the Council. Subregional           • Western Africa runs for one seat every odd
the United Nations to the maintenance of            groups within the African Group tend to fol-          calendar year; and
international peace and security and to the         low a rotation system, though there have been       • Eastern Africa and Southern Africa rotate
other purposes of the Organization, and also        some departures from this scheme. Theoreti-           running for one seat every even calendar
to equitable geographical distribution”.            cally, under this system every country in Afri-       year.
    The Charter does not define equitable           ca should eventually get a turn as a candidate        This system has meant that the African
geographic distribution, stipulate how it           for a Council seat.                               seats are rarely contested, but there have been
should be achieved, or suggest the compo-               The process of selecting a candidate in       exceptions. The election in 2011 was unusual
sition of appropriate geographical groups.          the African Group usually follows a defined       in that three candidates (Mauritania, Moroc-
However, the principle of equitable geo-            path, in accordance with the AU rules of          co and Togo) ran for two seats. This happened
graphic distribution gave rise to the estab-        procedure cited above. First, the subregional     because Mauritania decided to contest the
lishment of electoral groups as a vehicle for       groups select the potential candidate coun-       Northern Africa/Arab swing seat with Moroc-
achieving that goal. The regional groups, as        tries and forward their names to the African      co rather than wait its turn in the rotational
they now operate, are as follows:                   Group for endorsement. The group submits          cycle. Morocco prevailed, as did Togo, which
                                                    the candidates to the Committee on Candi-         won the seat allocated by the African Group
African Group             54 members                datures of the African Group in New York,         to the Western Africa subregion. When Sudan
                                                    which transmits the information to the AU         was the endorsed candidate in 2000, Mauri-
Asia-Pacific Group        54 members
                                                    Ministerial Committee on Candidatures.            tius decided to contest the seat and won elec-
Eastern European          23 members                This committee follows its written rules of       tion to the Council.
Group                                               procedure in selecting candidates. The Afri-          The picture can also become complicated
                                                    can Group and the AU are made up of the           when countries that can claim to straddle
GRULAC                    33 members
                                                    same members. (For over three decades the         more than one geographic region have at
WEOG                      28 members                sole exception was Morocco, which had been        times chosen to shift from one subgroup to
                                                    a founding member of the Organisation of          another. Challengers can also emerge within
                                                    African Unity [OAU], the AU’s precursor,          the same subregional grouping, upsetting the

Security Council Report Research Report May 2019                                                                           securitycouncilreport.org   7
Regional Groups and Established Practices

 rotation. Candidate countries can often be         to declare their candidacy closer to the elec-      member states that did not have a clear
 persuaded to drop out to avoid a competi-          tion year, smaller candidate countries have         regional grouping. (For example, in 1955,
 tive election. However, there have been times      tended to announce their decision to run            when there was no Asian seat, the Philip-
 when rival candidacies have emerged and            many years ahead of time. The only subgroup         pines competed with members of the East-
 continued all the way through to the election.     within the Asia-Pacific Group that endorses         ern European Group for a seat. When the
 In addition, within a subgroup some coun-          its candidates is ASEAN, made up of Bru-            voting remained deadlocked between Yugo-
 tries may choose to run more often, while          nei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,          slavia and the Philippines after 36 rounds,
 others choose to run infrequently or not at all.   Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singa-          the two countries agreed to accept a split
     A factor that seems to be coming into play     pore, Thailand and Viet Nam.                        term: Yugoslavia served on the Council in
 is the growing desire by some member states                                                            1956 and the Philippines in 1957.)
 in the region to be elected more often than        The Arab Swing Seat                                     Latin American and Caribbean Group
 strict adherence to the rotation system would      There is an established practice that spans             After the expansion of the Council and
 allow. Nigeria was elected for the 2014-2015       the Asia-Pacific and African Groups. As dis-        the reorganisation of the regional groups that
 term after having been a Council member in         cussed in Annex 2 below, General Assem-             occurred as a result of General Assembly res-
 2010-2011. South Africa was on the Coun-           bly resolution 1991 A (XVIII) provided five         olution 1991 A (XVIII), the Latin American
 cil in 2007-2008, again in 2011-2012, and is       seats for “Asia and Africa”, and in practice        Group took in the Caribbean states, several
 currently on the Council for the term 2019-        the seats have been divided into three seats        of which were members of the British Com-
 2020. Although some have argued against the        for Africa and two for Asia. In 1967, after Jor-    monwealth, and became the Group of Latin
“miniaturisation” of the Council by including       dan ended its two-year term in what had been        American and Caribbean States (GRULAC).
 too many small states, smaller countries have      the Middle East seat, there was a year with         It currently has 33 members.
 maintained that they too contribute to inter-      no Arab state on the Council, which coin-               Like most of the other groups, GRULAC
 national peace and security and should have        cided with the Six-Day War. It appears that         has no formal rules regarding rotation. For
 the opportunity to serve on the Council.           at some point there was an informal agree-          much of the last 60 years, non-Caribbean
                                                    ment, although there are no known records,          countries have tended to dominate regional
Asia-Pacific Group                                  that one seat would be reserved for an Arab         representation. Historically, the group was
The Asia-Pacific Group has no formally              state and that Asia and Africa would take           often able to reach consensus on “clean
established practices of rotation to fill the two   turns every two years to provide a suitable         slates”. However, the group has also pro-
seats, one of which becomes available every         candidate. As a result, this seat is often called   duced two of the most protracted and bitterly
year. While it has the same number of coun-         the “Arab swing seat”. An Arab country has          contested voting sessions in UN history. The
tries as the African Group, the Asia-Pacific        always occupied a seat on the Council since         1979 contest between Colombia and Cuba
Group’s wide geographic span—from the               1968.                                               went to 154 rounds before Mexico was elect-
Middle East to Polynesia—has led to much                                                                ed as a compromise candidate in the 155th
looser regional coordination.                       Eastern European Group                              round, in a process lasting from 26 October
    Until the mid-1990s, there was a fair-          The Eastern European Group is the small-            1979 until 7 January 1980. In 2006, elec-
ly consistent South Asian presence on the           est regional group, consisting of 23 mem-           tions for the GRULAC seat on the Security
Council, with Bangladesh, India, Nepal and          ber states, with an election for one seat           Council were inconclusive after 47 rounds
Pakistan rotating seats. In practice, South         every odd calendar year. This is also the           of voting over several weeks beginning on 16
Asian countries rarely run against each other.      group that has expanded the most in recent          October. With the General Assembly unable
One exception occurred in 1975 when India           decades, with 15 new members added                  to decide between Guatemala and Venezuela,
and Pakistan contested the same seat and            since 1991 because of the dissolution of            Panama agreed to stand and was elected in
eight rounds of voting were needed before           the Soviet Union and the splitting of both          the 48th round on 7 November, as the com-
Pakistan prevailed.                                 Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Today, 11 of         promise candidate.
     Since 1958, Japan has also been a regular      its countries are EU members, four—Alba-                As a result of this experience, an informal
presence on the Council. When it completed          nia, Republic of North Macedonia, Monte-            understanding developed among GRULAC
its last term at the end of 2017, Japan had accu-   negro and Serbia—are candidates for EU              members to avoid contested elections, start-
mulated 22 years on the Council, the most of        membership, and Bosnia and Herzegovina              ing with the 2007 elections for the 2008-2009
any non-permanent member. Since 1966, it            is considered a “potential candidate”. An           term. Since then, Mexico (2008), Brazil (2009),
has never been off the Council for more than        Eastern European seat was included in the           Colombia (2010), Guatemala (2011), Argen-
six consecutive years. With a total of 20 years     permanent members’ “gentlemen’s agree-              tina (2012), Chile (2013), Venezuela (2014),
on the Council, Brazil comes in second.             ment” in 1946 (see Annex 2), but soon               Uruguay (2015), Bolivia (2016), Peru (2017),
    The absence of a formal rotation system         thereafter, the meaning of that agreement           the Dominican Republic (2018) and now Saint
has meant that there is frequent competition        was contested, with the Soviet Union and            Vincent and the Grenadines have all been
for the Asia-Pacific seat regardless of whether     the West vying for 20 years to place their          unopposed candidates for Council seats. One
a candidate declares itself far in advance or       preferred candidates in this seat. It also          GRULAC seat is up for election each year.
not. While larger member states have tended         became a hotly contested seat among new

8 whatsinblue.org                                                                                        Security Council Report Research Report   May 2019
Regional Groups and Established Practices

Western European and Others Group                   New Zealand became the “others” in WEOG.         the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and
With 28 members, WEOG is the second-                Israel is the other non-European state that      Luxembourg). There are informal under-
smallest regional group, and two seats become       participates in WEOG. With France and the        standings within the Nordic countries and
available to it every even calendar year. Strict-   UK as members and the US attending meet-         CANZ subgroups that have encouraged
ly speaking, it is not a geographical group, as     ings as an observer, WEOG includes three of      members to support each other’s campaigns.
it comprises Western Europe plus “others”,          the five permanent members of the Council.          In its first term on the Council (1951-
but its members share broadly similar levels        The Holy See is also an observer in WEOG.        1952), Turkey served as the Middle Eastern
of economic development and political values.          WEOG practices what might be called an        Council member. It occupied the Eastern
The “others” subgroup is made up of three           open-market approach to elections, which         European seat twice (1954-1955 and 1961)
members of what was previously called the           produces a regular pattern of contested can-     and has since run for the WEOG seat. Tur-
British Commonwealth Group. The British             didatures that is likely to remain highly com-   key participates fully in both the WEOG and
Commonwealth Group grew rapidly in the              petitive in the coming years.                    Asian Group, but for electoral purposes is
late 1950s as states in Africa and Asia became         There are several subgroups within            considered a member of WEOG only.
independent. Most of these newly indepen-           WEOG: the Nordic countries (Denmark, Fin-
dent states joined the Asian and African            land, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), CANZ
Groups or GRULAC. Australia, Canada and             (Canada, Australia and New Zealand), and

The 2017-2018 Split Term

In the 2016 elections, three candidates—Ita-        the Council for the 2018-2019 term, and Ita-     politics, as well as to accommodate the aspi-
ly, the Netherlands and Sweden—ran for the          ly relinquished its seat on 31 December 2017.    rations of newly independent countries. Two
two available WEOG seats. During the first              Russia and Egypt, a non-permanent mem-       candidates would occasionally agree to split
round of voting, on 28 June, Sweden received        ber during the 2016-2017 term, wrote to the      the term following multiple rounds of incon-
more than the necessary two-thirds majority         president of the General Assembly outlining      clusive voting. The member that was elected
of votes to be elected (134). Thus, Italy and       their concerns over the arrangement between      first would relinquish its term after one year
the Netherlands were contesting the fifth seat      Italy and the Netherlands (A/70/971 and          on the Council, thus enabling the holding of
but after five inconclusive rounds of balloting,    A/70/974). Both said that they viewed the        a by-election to fill the vacant seat. By-elec-
with the fifth round deadlocked at 95 votes         agreement to split the term as an exceptional    tions are in line with Rule 140 of the Rules
each (with 128 votes or two-thirds major-           case that should not set a precedent. They       of Procedure of the General Assembly, which
ity needed), following this the two countries       argued that a practice of split terms would      states: “Should a member cease to belong to
then announced they had agreed to split the         have a negative impact on the functionality      a Council before its term of office expires, a
two-year term, whereupon the meeting was            and efficiency of the Security Council in its    by-election shall be held separately at the next
suspended. On 29 June 2016, the Chair of            responsibility for maintaining international     session of the General Assembly to elect a
WEOG sent a letter (A/70/964) informing             peace and security. Russia noted that the last   member for the unexpired term”.
the president of the General Assembly that          time a decision had been taken on splitting          The practice of splitting terms ended in
Italy and the Netherlands had agreed to split       a term had been more than 50 years earlier,      the mid-1960s when the non-permanent
the 2017-2018 term in view of the inconclu-         following which the Council’s workload had       membership of the Council was enlarged
sive results for the remaining non-permanent        greatly increased, and said it was “gravely      from six to ten members and regional repre-
seat. The letter indicated that the Nether-         disappointed by the inability of the Western     sentation was introduced. (For further back-
lands had withdrawn its candidacy in favour         European and other States to designate a can-    ground, see “Security Council Elections: Italy
of Italy, which was consequently endorsed by        didate by consensus, which has led to the cur-   and the Netherlands Agree to a Split Term”,
WEOG as the group’s only candidate. On 30           rent stalemate”.                                 What’s in Blue, 29 June 2016: http://www.
June 2016, in a stand-alone vote, Italy was             Article 23(2) of the UN Charter states       whatsinblue.org/2016/06/security-council-
elected to the seat. According to the agree-        that the non-permanent members of the            elections-italy-and-the-netherlands-agree-
ment, the Netherlands ran as the sole and           Security Council shall be elected for a term     to-a-split-term.php.)
endorsed WEOG candidate in a by-election            of two years. Split terms started to appear in
held on 2 June 2017, the same day as the reg-       the late 1950s due to disagreements regard-
ular elections for non-permanent members of         ing regional rotation and associated Cold War

Security Council Report Research Report May 2019                                                                          securitycouncilreport.org   9
Becoming a Candidate

Most candidate countries follow a fairly stan-      intention to seek a Council seat by notify-       president of the General Assembly, or both,
dard path in announcing and pursuing their          ing the rotating monthly chair of its respec-     although this is not required by the General
bids for the Council with the exception of          tive regional group in New York. This is done     Assembly’s rules of procedure.
candidates from the African Group, which            in writing, specifying the two-year term the         As the relevant election year approaches,
has a more complex process, as described            country seeks. The chair then incorporates        the regional group may decide to give its
earlier. If the country is a member of a subre-     that information into the UN candidacy chart      endorsement, and, nearer to the election date,
gional group, it will often first inform mem-       of the regional group, which is maintained by     the chair of the regional group will inform the
bers of that group of its intention to run and      each group and reviewed at monthly group          president of the General Assembly whether
seek support. The endorsement of the sub-           meetings. Most candidate countries then pre-      elections will be contested or not. This allows
regional group then becomes an important            pare a circular note to all missions in New       the Secretariat to prepare documentation for
factor in the next step.                            York informing them of the candidacy. Most        the election process.
   A candidate country formalises its               also send a note to the Secretariat or the

Campaigning for the Council

Candidates seek voting pledges from mem-            decisions of diplomats in member state capi-      headed for an unopposed election. However,
ber states, often years in advance of the elec-     tals and at UN headquarters, the foreign min-     on 8 September 2017, the General Assembly
tion, and may continue to do so up until            ister and permanent representative to the UN      adopted resolution 71/323 on the revitali-
the vote. Campaigning for the Council can           play significant roles in the campaign pro-       sation of the work of the General Assembly,
involve significant investments of time and         cess. Additionally, particularly in contested     which decided that “on the day of election…
financial resources, although funds brought         elections, many candidates employ special         the campaign materials distributed in the
to bear vary greatly depending on a number          envoys, usually former senior government          General Assembly Hall…shall be limited to a
of factors, including the wealth of the candi-      officials or diplomats who travel to capitals     single page of information regarding the can-
date and whether the candidacy is contested.        seeking voting pledges from high-level offi-      didates, with a view to preserving the deco-
(Candidates predictably tend to spend less in       cials. Depending on their campaign strategies     rum of the Assembly”. The following year, on
unopposed elections.)                               and resources, candidate countries may use        20 September 2018, resolution 72/313 wel-
   Commitments are sought in writing, orally,       multiple envoys, often focusing their efforts     comed the “efficient implementation” of this
or both. Votes are cast by secret ballot, mak-      on particular regions where they lack strong      provision and decided “to continue to con-
ing it impossible to determine whether mem-         diplomatic representation.                        sider, within the Ad Hoc Working Group [on
ber states have kept their promises. There are          To secure voting commitments from mem-        the Revitalization of the Work of the General
several reasons why pledges may be broken.          ber states, candidate countries may volunteer,    Assembly], the potential concept and scope
A high-level official in the capital may pledge     or be asked for, inducements. For example, a      of guidelines on how to conduct the election
the country’s vote to a particular candi-           candidate may offer development assistance        campaigns by Member States, with a view to
date but fail to convey the commitment to           to a member state in seeking its vote, or it      improving the standards of transparency and
the permanent mission to the UN in New              may promise that while on the Council it will     equity”.
York, where the votes are cast. Or, if there is a   bring attention to or avoid an issue of con-         As contested elections may continue for
change in government, the new government            cern to that member state. Arranging trips        several rounds, candidates try to ensure that
may not consider itself bound by the pledges        to the candidate’s capital or holding work-       member states having voted for them in
of a previous administration. Given the secre-      shops on (uncontroversial) issues of inter-       the first round continue to do so while also
cy of the ballot, there are incentives to pledge    est in attractive locations has been used by      attempting to secure support from uncom-
to all candidates in a competitive election.        several candidates in recent years to raise the   mitted members. Some member states have
Knowing that commitments are not always             profile of their campaign and attract perma-      said when they commit their vote to a candi-
secure, some candidate countries repeatedly         nent representatives, who will cast the actual    date that they do so for the duration of the
cultivate those countries that have already         vote, to these events. So-called “swag bags”      electoral process, regardless of the number
promised to vote for them, seeking reassur-         filled with items imprinted with the logo of      of rounds. However, in protracted elections
ances that they have not changed their minds.       the candidate that are handed out within UN       that come down to two candidates vying for
Candidates often seek pledges from member           circles are intended to increase the outreach     a single seat, member states will often eventu-
states at many levels of government.                of the campaign. Customarily, on the day of       ally shift their vote if it appears that their can-
   As candidate countries generally focus           the elections, permanent representatives were     didate of choice is losing ground and appears
their campaigns on influencing the voting           offered gifts by most candidates, even those      unlikely to prevail.

10 whatsinblue.org                                                                                     Security Council Report Research Report   May 2019
UN DOCUMENTS ON SECURITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Security Council Documents                             A/70/PV.108 (30 June 2016) was the record of the              2014 elections of non-permanent members.
                                                       2016 elections for the remaining non-permanent
S/2017/507 (30 August 2017) was the updated com-                                                                     A/RES/68/307 (18 September 2014) decided
                                                       member from WEOG.
pendium of Security Council working methods.                                                                         that elections of the non-permanent members of
                                                       A/70/974 (30 June 2016) was the letter from Egypt             the Security Council would take place about six
S/2016/619 (15 July 2016) was a note by the Council
                                                       expressing its understanding that the agreement               months before the elected members assume their
president concerning transitional arrangements for
                                                       between Italy and the Netherlands to split the 2017-          responsibilities.
newly elected Council members, which among other
                                                       2018 term would not lay the ground for future prac-
matters called on Council members to agree provi-                                                                    A/59/881 (20 July 2005) was a note verbale from
                                                       tice and would have no legal or procedural implica-
sionally on the appointment of chairs of subsidiary                                                                  Costa Rica containing information on elections from
                                                       tions on future elections to the Security Council.
bodies by 1 October.                                                                                                 1946 to 2004.
                                                       A/70/971 (30 June 2016) was the letter from Russia
General Assembly Documents                                                                                           A/RES 1991 A (XVIII) (17 December 1963) was the
                                                       expressing the position that the exceptional case of
                                                                                                                     resolution adopting amendments to the Charter on
A/RES/72/313 (17 September 2018) was on the revit- the agreement between Italy and the Netherlands to
                                                                                                                     the composition of the Council and establishing the
alisation of the work of the General Assembly, and split the term would not set a precedent, arguing that
                                                                                                                     allocation of seats to various regions.
welcomed the “efficient implementation” of this provi- this practice would have a negative impact on the
sion and decided “to continue to consider, within the Security Council’s efficiency.                                 GAOR 1st Session, Part I, 14th Plenary Session and
Ad Hoc Working Group [on the Revitalization of the                                                                   Part II (12 January 1946) was the first election of non-
                                                       A/70/964 (29 June 2016) was the letter from the
Work of the General Assembly], the potential con-                                                                    permanent members.
                                                       chair of WEOG stating that Italy and the Netherlands
cept and scope of guidelines on how to conduct the
                                                       had agreed to split the term, with Italy serving in 2017      Other
election campaigns by Member States, with a view to
                                                       and the Netherlands in 2018, requiring a by-election
improving the standards of transparency and equity”.                                                                 Charter of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/
                                                       for the remainder of the term.
                                                                                                                     charter-united-nations/
A/72/PV.93 (8 June 2018) was the record of the 2018
                                                       A/70/PV.107 (28 June 2016) was the record of the
election of five non-permanent members.                                                                              A/520/Rev.15 and amendments 1 and 2 are the Rules
                                                       2016 elections of the non-permanent members for
                                                                                                                     of Procedure of the General Assembly, including
A/RES/71/323 (8 September 2017) was on the the remaining candidates from WEOG when Italy and
                                                                                                                     amendments and additions.
revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly the Netherlands announced that they would split the
and decided that “on the day of election…the cam- term.                                                              Repertory of Practice of the United Nations
paign materials distributed in the General Assembly                                                                  Organs, Supplement no. 6, Volume III on Article 23
                                                       A/70/PV.106 (28 June 2016) was the record of the
Hall…shall be limited to a single page of information                                                                (1979-1984).
                                                       2016 elections of four non-permanent members.
regarding the candidates, with a view to preserving
                                                                                                                     See http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/ for the
the decorum of the Assembly”.                          A/70/PV.33 (15 October 2015) was the record of the
                                                                                                                     online version of the Repertoire of the Practice of the
                                                       2015 elections of non-permanent members.
A/71/PV.86 (2 June 2017) was the record of the 2017                                                                  Security Council. (The Repertory and the Repertoire
election of five non-permanent members.                A/69/PV.25 (16 October 2014) was the record of the            are different resources.)

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                                                             Loraine Sievers and Sam Daws, The Procedure of the
Jared Genser and Bruno Stagno Ugarte, eds., The                                                                      United Nations Handbook 2017-2018, New Zealand
                                                             UN Security Council, Fourth Edition, (Oxford: Oxford
United Nations Security Council in the Age of Human                                                                  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, (2017).
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Rights (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
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