Asia underrepresented among UNSC permanent membership; should be rectified, says Guterres

United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Asia is underrepresented on the Security Council’s roster of permanent members, and this should be rectified.

Speaking to reporters on Friday (India time) about his priorities for the year, he pressed for reforming the Council because “the centrality of the peace and security system lies in the UN and within” it.

While as the secretary-general he could not say what the reformed Council should be, his personal opinion, he said, is “that we should have permanent members from Africa in the Security Council, the same representation of Latin America”.

“I think that probably Asia is underrepresented, also clearly, and so this rebalancing needs to be done”, he said.

India, which has staked a claim to permanent membership, has proposed reform along those lines, and this has broad support among UN members.

Guterres took a swipe at those who are blocking the reform process.

“It’s very interesting to see that those who criticise the UN for not being effective are the ones opposing the reform of the Security Council,” he said.

“That is the reason why the UN can sometimes not be as effective as we all want,” he added.

He did not name those opposing the reforms.

A small group of countries that call themselves Uniting for Consensus, led by Italy and including Pakistan, has been holding up the reform process for more than a decade by opposing the adoption of a negotiating text.

Without such a text laying out the agenda and tracking the progress on issues, the negotiations have virtually stalled.

Guterres said he was also supportive of the idea of putting restrictions on the veto rights of permanent members, which have been a major obstacle to the Council acting on several burning issues.

“I see with a lot of sympathy some initiatives that were presented, namely by two permanent members of the Council, in order to put some limits to the exercise of the right of veto”, he said, referring to the proposals by France and Britain.

Under their proposal, vetoes would be restricted “in circumstances of genocide or terrible crimes against humanity”, he said.

“These would be the lines of evolution I would like to see the international community come together in order to have a reformed Security Council,” he said.

He was asked about the Board of Peace set up by President Donald Trump in Gaza and the development of the war-ravaged territory with the approval of the Council, but which he now wants to assume a broader role that some see as rivalling the UN.

“The Security Council stands alone in its Charter-mandated authority (is able) to act on behalf of all members in questions of peace and security,” Guterres said.

“Only the Security Council can adopt decisions binding on all, and no other body or ad hoc coalition can legally require all Member States to comply with decisions on peace and security,” he said.

–IANS