1984 United Nations Security Council election

1984 United Nations Security Council election
← 1983 22 October – 18 December 1984 1985 →
5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council
Members before election

 New Members

Unsuccessful candidates
 Ethiopia (African Group)
 Mongolia (Asian Group)
 Somalia (African Group)

The 1984 United Nations Security Council election was held from 22 October to 18 December 1984 during the Thirty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Australia, Denmark, Madagascar, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1985. Madagascar, Thailand and Trinidad and Tobago were elected to Council for the first time.

Rules

See also: United Nations Security Council

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.[1][2] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.[3]

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,[4] the five available seats are allocated as follows:

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.

Endorsed candidates

Prior to the first round of balloting, the delegate of Sweden, speaking on behalf of the Western European and Others Group, endorsed Australia and Denmark.[6] The African Group had previously endorsed Ethiopia.[7]

Following the first round, the delegate of Ecuador thanked the Member States that had voted for his country and reiterated the fact that Ecuador had withdrawn its candidacy prior to the vote.[6]

After receiving votes in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds of voting, the delegates of Kenya, Tanzania, and Cameroon underlined the fact that their countries were not candidates.[8] Tanzania explicitly endorsed Ethiopia's candidacy.

Between the tenth and eleventh rounds of balloting, under mediation by the Organization of African Unity, Ethiopia and Somalia agreed to withdraw their candidacies in favour of Madagascar. The result of this negotiation was formally announced by the Congolese delegate, as chairman of the African Group, prior to the final round of balloting.[7]

Result

Voting was conducted on a single ballot. Ballots containing more states from a certain region than seats allocated to that region were invalidated.

Day 1

The first four rounds of balloting were held on 22 October 1984 during the 33rd plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[6]

Member Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
 Australia 146 – – –
 Denmark 145 – – –
 Trinidad and Tobago 142 – – –
 Thailand 99 100 103 106
 Ethiopia 85 84 82 83
 Somalia 70 72 74 72
 Mongolia 59 54 51 49
 Ecuador 6 – – –
 Austria 6 – – –
 Venezuela 2 – – –
 Barbados 1 – – –
 Dominican Republic 1 – – –
 Finland 1 – – –
 West Germany 1 – – –
 Haiti 1 – – –
abstentions 0 1 1 2
invalid ballots 0 0 0 0
required majority 105 105 105 104

Day 2

The fifth through tenth rounds of balloting were held on 28 November 1984 at the 77th Plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[8]

Member Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10
 Ethiopia 81 77 76 79 78 75
 Somalia 68 66 67 77 72 75
 Tanzania 2 2 3 – – –
 Kenya – 2 2 – – –
 Cameroon – – 1 – – –
abstentions 1 1 1 1 0 0
invalid ballots 0 1 0 1 2 2
required majority 101 98 100 100 100 100

Day 3

The eleventh and final round of balloting was held on 18 December 1984 at the 105th Plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[7]

Member Round 11
 Madagascar 126
 Kenya 4
 Comoros 3
 Burundi 1
 Mali 1
 Morocco 1
abstentions 11
invalid ballots 0
required majority 91

See also

References

  1. ^ United Nations Security Council (2008), Repertoire of the practice of the Security Council, United Nations Publications, p. 178, ISBN 9789211370300, retrieved 3 November 2011
  2. ^ Conforti, Benedetto (2005), The law and practice of the United Nations, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 61, ISBN 9004143092, retrieved 3 November 2011
  3. ^ Charter of the United Nations, Article 23
  4. ^ Resolution 1991 A (XVIII), dated 1963-12-17, in force 1965-08-31.
  5. ^ "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group", Radio New Zealand International, 2011-08-31.
  6. ^ a b c U.N. General Assembly, 39th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Thirty-third Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Monday, 22 October 1984. (A/39/PV.33) 22 October 1984
  7. ^ a b c U.N. General Assembly, 39th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the One Hundred and fifth Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Tuesday 18 December 1984. (A/39/PV.105) 18 December 1984
  8. ^ a b U.N. General Assembly, 39th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Seventy-seventh Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Wednesday, 28 November 1984. (A/39/PV.77) 28 November 1984
  • UN Document A/59/881 Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica containing a record of Security Council elections up to 2004