1999 United Nations Security Council election
The 1999 United Nations Security Council election was held on 14 October 1999[1] during the Fifty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia, and Ukraine, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2000. Notably, Ukraine was elected to the Council for the first time as an independent nation.
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5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council | |||
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| Unsuccessful candidates |
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Rules
The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms.[2][3] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.[4]
In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes,[5] the five available seats are allocated as follows:[6]
- Two for African countries (held by Gabon and the Gambia), with one of them being the "Arab swing seat"
- One for countries from the Asian Group (now the Asia-Pacific Group[7]) (held by Bahrain)
- One for Latin America and the Caribbean (held by Brazil)
- One for the Eastern European Group (held by Slovenia)
To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on.
Candidatures
Prior to the vote, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Gurirab informed the General Assembly of the candidates as follows: Bangladesh, Mali, and Tunisia from the African and Asian States as endorsed candidates, Jamaica from the Latin American and Caribbean States as the endorsed candidate, and Slovakia and the Ukraine from the Eastern European States as candidates not enjoying the full endorsement of their respective regional group.
Results
African Group
| African and Asian States election results | |
|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 |
 | 172 |
 | 172 |
 | 171 |
| abstentions | 0 |
| invalid ballots | 0 |
| required majority | 115 |
| ballots distributed | 172 |
Latin American and Caribbean Group
| Latin American and Caribbean Group election results | |
|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 |
 | 171 |
| abstentions | 0 |
| invalid ballots | 1 |
| required majority | 114 |
| ballots distributed | 172 |
Eastern European Group
| Eastern European Group election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 |
 | 92 | 98 | 113 | 158 |
| 79 | 72 | 57 | 3 |
| abstentions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| invalid ballots | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| required majority | 114 | 114 | 114 | 108 |
| ballots distributed | 172 | 171 | 170 | 168 |
Prior to the fourth round of voting, Mr. Tomka of Slovakia rose to speak. He thanked all the delegations for their support for Slovakia's bid for Security Council membership, and then formally withdrew their candidacy, wishing the Ukraine well.
References
- "ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS: Principal Organs". United Nations.
- United Nations Security Council (2008), Repertoire of the practice of the Security Council, p. 178
- Conforti, Benedetto (2005), The law and practice of the United Nations, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 61
- Charter of the United Nations, Article 23
- Resolution 1991 A (XVIII), dated 1963-12-17, in force 1965-08-31. See also the notes accompanying Rules 142 to 144 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly and Item 114(a) (page 175) of UN Document A/66/100, Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly.
- "Security Council Elections 2011" (PDF). Security Council Report: Special Research Report. 21 September 2011.
- "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group", Radio New Zealand International, 2011-08-31.
External links
- UN Document A/66/PV.37 Official record of General Assembly meeting, 14 October 1999