By The South Asia Times 

*New York -  Pakistan has stated that the proposal for the creation of new permanent seats for individual member states in the reformed Security Council violates the principle of sovereign equality of the UN member states, terming this proposal by some countries as an attempt at building “new centers of privilege”.

Welcoming the expansion of convergences in the IGN process, Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, reiterated the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group’s position of increasing the membership of the Security Council up to 26/27 in the non-permanent category, dubbing this as the best possible way forward for the reform. 

Pakistan is a leading member of UfC along with a dozen countries. 

Ambassador Akram was making a statement during the first Intergovernmental negotiation process (IGN) meeting on the categories of membership and cross-regional representation in the UN today. He rejected the claims by the aspirants of permanent membership regarding their reference to ‘new realities’ and said that there are more than four or six states, possibly 20, which are making greater contribution to peace and security than the four aspirants of UN permanent membership. 

The Pakistan UN Ambassador termed the UfC’s proposal to add only non-permanent members, elected periodically by the General Assembly, as democratic and consistent with the Charter’s prescription that the Security Council “acts on behalf” of the entire membership of the General Assembly. 

He said that the elected-10 non-permanent members of have taken the lead in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Security Council, warning that addition of six new members to UN Security Council would undermine equitable regional representation for the 182 member countries. 

“Indeed, new individual permanent members would expand the “game of thrones” in the Security Council and intensify the prospects of its paralysis and dysfunction,” he stated. 

While acknowledging historic injustice against Africa as well as other regional groupings such as the OIC, Arab Group, Asia and Latin America, Ambassador Munir Akram reminded that UfC’s proposal regarding “regional representation” can contribute to redressing such historic injustices against the under-represented regions. 

He said that “under our proposal, regions could determine the modalities for nominating their representatives and their fair rotation, adhering to the principle of regional ownership.”

He also said that UfC’s framework could also ensure the adequate representation of the cross-regional groups, adding that the countries of these groupings have special interest and perspective on peace and security. 

Ambassador Munir Akram highlighted the scope of convergences achieved during the IGN process, which is as follow:

1. There is agreement to expand the number of non-permanent seats in the Security Council, but no consensus on adding permanent members.

2. Developing countries must have increased representation on the Security Council.

3. A regional approach is the most equitable basis for representation in an expanded Security Council.

4. Special attention must address the historic underrepresentation of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and other marginalized regions and groups.

5. A "consolidated model" should reconcile differences across five interlinked clusters: size, categories, veto, regional representation, and working methods.

6. The Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process is the best mechanism to achieve consensus on Security Council reform.

7. Text-based negotiations should only start after resolving divergences and developing a consolidated model.

8. While early reform is sought, no arbitrary deadline has been set for Security Council reform decisions.

9. Reform decisions must be based on the broadest possible consensus among UN Member States.

10. Imposing unilateral decisions will fracture UN membership and undermine the IGN process and prospects for reform.

He said that these “ten commandments” should guide the further work of the IGN.