Pakistan demands UNSC overhaul

Urges world body to be more inclusive to address conflicts

UNITED NATIONS:

Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council to “seriously consider” ways to implement its resolutions, especially on long-standing disputes, while stressing that the 15-member body must become more transparent, accountable, inclusive and democratic to respond to the growing challenges.

“Nothing undermines the credibility of the Council more than the ‘selective’ implementation and non-implementation of its resolutions,’ Ambassador Munir Akram told delegates when the long-running negotiations aimed at restructuring the Security Council resumed Tuesday.

“Failure to enforce its resolutions undermines the credibility of the Security Council and erodes confidence in its ability to fulfil the responsibilities assigned by the UN Charter,” the Pakistani envoy said at a session devoted to the five interlinked ‘clusters’ of issues on reforming the Security Council, with a focused discussion on its working methods.

In his remarks, Ambassador Akram reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to promoting enhanced transparency, accountability, and inclusivity within the Security Council’s working methods, and called for collective efforts to achieve meaningful reforms.

Full-scale negotiations to reform the Security Council began in the General Assembly in February 2009 on five key clusters — the categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the General Assembly.

Despite a general agreement on enlarging the Council, as part of the UN reform process, member states remain divided over the details.

The so-called Group of Four — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan — who seek for themselves permanent seats on the Council have shown no flexibility in their push for expanding the Council by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four non-permanent members.

On the other hand, the Italy/Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, which firmly opposes additional permanent members, has proposed a new category of members — not permanent members — with longer duration in terms and a possibility to get re-elected.

The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.

Highlighting the integral role of working methods reform within the ongoing reform process, Ambassador Akram underscored the imperative for the Council to address its procedures to enhance functionality and inclusivity. He particularly emphasized the need for transparency, inclusivity, and democratic processes in decision-making.

Pointing out that UN Charter assigns distinct but complementary roles to both the Security Council and the General Assembly, Ambassador Akram said, ” We should all be seriously concerned at the continuing encroachment by the Security Council on the functions and powers of the General Assembly, in particular, by attempting to set legal norms and establish definitions for various issues that are squarely within the purview of the General Assembly.”