2012 United Nations Security Council election

The 2012 United Nations Security Council election was held on 18 October 2012[1] during the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2013 to replace the five countries whose terms expired. The countries elected were Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea, and Rwanda with Luxembourg being elected for the first time.

2012 United Nations Security Council election
18 October 2012
5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council membership after the elections
  Permanent members
  Non-permanent members
Elected Members before election

 South Africa (Africa)
 India (Asia)
 Colombia (LatAm&Car)
 Germany (WEOG)
 Portugal (WEOG)

 New Elected Members






Unsuccessful candidates
 Bhutan (Asian Group)
 Cambodia (Asian Group)
 Finland (WEOG)

Rules

In accordance with the rotation 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, the five available seats were allocated as follows:

The election is for the term from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014.

Candidates

Western European and Others Group

 Australia[3]
 Finland[4]
 Luxembourg[5]

Asia-Pacific Group

 Bhutan[6]
 Cambodia[7]
 South Korea[8]

Latin American and Caribbean Group

 Argentina[9]

African Group

 Rwanda[9][10]

Rwanda controversy

Prior to the actual vote, the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo rose to speak and said that Rwanda "was an oasis for criminals" operating in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on those grounds, she objected to Rwanda as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.[11] A confidential U.N. report was also leaked before the election, which stated that Rwanda is involved in the current conflict in the eastern DRC and that "Rwandan officials exercise overall command and strategic planning for M23 ... Rwanda continues to violate the arms embargo through direct military support to M23 rebels, facilitation of recruitment, encouragement and facilitation of FARDC (Congolese army) desertions as well as the provision of arms and ammunition, intelligence, and political advice."[12] Rwandan U.N. representative Olivier Nduhungirehe responded by saying, "The members of the General Assembly know exactly what our record is and they cannot be deterred or swayed by a baseless report, which has no credibility."[13]

Results

Argentina, Australia, and Rwanda were elected in the first round of voting,[14] while Luxembourg and the Republic of Korea were elected in the second. In both rounds, 193 voting papers were distributed.[11]

African and Asia-Pacific Groups
African and Asia-Pacific States election results[11]
Member Round 1 Round 2
 Rwanda148—
 South Korea116149
 Cambodia6243
 Bhutan20—
 Tanzania3—
 Democratic Republic of the Congo1—
abstentions10
invalid ballots01
required majority128128

Latin America and Caribbean Group
Latin America and Caribbean Group election results[11]
Member Round 1
 Argentina182
 Barbados1
 Cuba1
abstentions8
invalid ballots1
required majority123

Western European and Other Group
Western European and Other Group election results[11]
Member Round 1 Round 2
 Australia140—
 Luxembourg128131
 Finland10862
abstentions00
required majority129129

See also

References
  1. "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly: Report by the Secretary-General". United Nations. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  2. "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group", Radio New Zealand International, 2011-08-31.
  3. "Australia Candidate for the United Nations Security Council 2013–14". Australia-unsc.gov.au. 26 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  4. "Finland to the UN Security Council 2013–2014 – Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN : Current Affairs". Finlandun.org. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  5. "Luxembourg, Candidate for the Security Council 2013-2014". newyork-un.mae.lu.
  6. "Bhutan seeks seat on UN Security Council for 2013–2014". China People's Daily. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  7. "Cambodia candidate for the United Nations Security Council 2013–2014" (PDF). cambodianembassy.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  8. "ROK-UN Relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  9. "Security Council Elections 2012". Security Council Report. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  10. "Minister Mushikiwabo press briefing focuses on UNSC, ICGLR and Rwanda Day". Government of the Republic of Rwanda. Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  11. "GA/11303 – General Assembly Elects Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, Republic of Korea, Rwanda as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council". United Nations Department of Public Information. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  12. Charbonneau, Louis; Michelle Nichols (16 October 2012). "Exclusive: Rwanda, Uganda arming Congo rebels, providing troops – U.N. panel". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  13. Charbonneau, Louis; Michelle Nichols (18 October 2012). "RPT-Under fire over Congo rebels, Rwanda eyes UN Security Council seat". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  14. Musoni, Edward. "Rwanda Elected to UN Security Council". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
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