The 2006 United Nations Security Council election began on 16 October 2006 during the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2007.
In accordance with the Security Council's rotation rules, whereby the ten non-permanent Security Council 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: One for Africa (held by Tanzania) One for Latin America and the Caribbean (held by Argentina) One for Asia (held by Japan) Two for the Western European and Others Group (held by Denmark and Greece)
While the first three votes were uncontroversial and even the one contested seat was settled in the first round, the race for the Latin American and Caribbean seat went on for an almost unprecedented 48 rounds of voting over the space of three weeks. In five days of ballots, the General Assembly was unable to decide between Guatemala and Venezuela, and the matter was only resolved when they both agreed to withdraw their candidacies and nominate Panama instead.
The final result of the election was that Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa were elected to serve on the Security Council for the 2007–08 period with South Africa being elected for the first time.
Voting mechanics To win a seat, a candidate member must receive the favourable vote of two-thirds of the member states present and voting. Votes are taken by secret ballot, with each of the UN's 192 then member states allocated one vote, and a formal ballot is conducted even in those cases in which — generally due to pre-meeting negotiations among the members of the corresponding bloc — there is only one candidacy.
If a bloc proposes more than one candidate but, after several rounds of voting, the General Assembly is unable to decide between them, the vote is opened to all the bloc's other member states. Balloting then continues in groups of three successive "restricted" and "unrestricted" rounds of voting until a winner emerges.
African seat South Africa, the only nation to contend for the African seat, was elected with 186 votes. The 2007–08 period is the first time that South Africa sits on the Security Council, occupying the seat then held by Tanzania."Four Security Council members elected but one seat still up for grabs" UN News Centre, 16 October 2006.
Asian seat There were two contenders for the Asian seat: Indonesia received 158 votes to Nepal's 28. Indonesia replaced Japan on 1 January 2007.
Western European and Others seats The Western European and Others Group (WEOG), a bloc made up of 23 European nations as well as Turkey, Israel, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, had two Council vacancies to fill in this election. It fielded two candidates — Belgium and Italy — both of which were voted onto the Council, with 180 and 186 supporting votes, respectively out of a total 192 valid ballots. They replaced Denmark and Greece at the end of 2006.
Latin American and Caribbean seat The Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) nominated two candidates — Guatemala and Venezuela — for its one available seat, then held by Argentina. After 47 rounds of deadlocked voting, both candidates withdrew their bids and supported the nomination of Panama as a compromise."Panama agreement ends UN seat row", BBC News, 2 November 2006
Guatemala Guatemala announced its candidacy in 2002."México frena a Venezuela en ONU" El Universal, 19 October 2006. It had the staunch support of the United States,"UN vote on Latin America resumes", BBC News, 17 October 2006 as well as that of Mexico, the rest of Central America, Colombia, and the remaining members of WEOG."New names for the UN Security Council deadlock" Mercopress, 18 October 2006. The Central American nation has never sat on the Security Council, and is one of only six of the original signatories of the UN Charter to be in that position (along with the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Luxembourg, and Saudi Arabia). In recent years, following the conclusion of its 36-year-long Civil War and the succession of several democratically elected governments, it has been playing a more proactive role in multilateral affairs. For instance, after having been on the receiving end of UN assistance between 1994 and 2004 with the MINUGUA verification mission,United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala it is now a provider of troops for peacekeeping missions (215 worldwide most in MONUC), with Guatemalan soldiers deployed in Haiti, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, and other global hot spots."Guatemala's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 2007–2008" Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations.
Venezuela Venezuela, under President Hugo Chávez, announced its plans to seek a UNSC seat in 2004. It presented itself as an alternative to what it considered U.S. global hegemony and, in the words of foreign minister Nicolás Maduro, an "end to the unipolar world that has been so damaging"."Chavez's Push for UN Council Seat Sets Up a Showdown With U.S." Bloomberg, 11 October 2006. Venezuela conducted an extensive global campaign in search of support for its candidacy in the months prior to the vote, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, where it offered generous packages of oil-funded aid; it claimed to have had the backing of Mercosur and of significant portions of the Arab League, the African Union, the Caribbean Community, the Non-Aligned Movement, Russia and China. Venezuela has occupied a seat on the UNSC on four previous occasions: 1962–63, 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1992–93."Chávez's Security Council seat dreams dealt setback" Los Angeles Daily News, 16 October 2006."Guatemala Leads Venezuela in U.N. Vote" Associated Press, 17 October 2006.
Caribbean support The Caribbean bloc of countries, also known as CARICOM, accounts for 14 votes in the GRULAC. Most of these states declared their backing for Venezuela at a meeting of the Caribbean Community Heads of Government meeting held earlier in 2006.
The still unresolved border dispute between Guatemala and CARICOM-member Belize,"ACP-EU supports Belize's sovereignty" Amandala Online, 23 March 2006."Brain Drain, Single Economy Top Summit Agenda" Inter Press, 20 October 2006. as well as a legal challenge brought by Guatemala before the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the Caribbean nations' trade deal with the European Union at the WTO, were reported as having soured the majority of Caribbean states against any backing of a Guatemalan candidacy."'No free lunch' for islands" The Daily Nation, 6 August 2006."WINFA denounces Guatemala" BBC Caribbean, 27 September 2006. Belizean Prime Minister Said Musa brought up the UNSC contest during the heads of government meeting and urged the other heads to support anyone but Guatemala. Prior to its recognition of Belize's sovereignty in 1991, Guatemala claimed its neighbour's territory in its entirety, and ownership of some tracts of land along the countries' jungle border is still disputed. Fear that Guatemala would use its UNSC seat to unfair advantage in this dispute made Venezuela a more attractive choice for the Caribbean states.
Venezuela also has a territorial dispute with CARICOM member-state Guyana but, in order to secure CARICOM's backing, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated publicly that his country would not use their role on the Security Council to further their territorial claims."Venezuela promises not to use UN seat to advance border claim against Guyana" Caribbean Net News, 20 October 2006. A further element in counteracting U.S. lobbying of the CARICOM states on behalf of Guatemala was Chávez's extensive petrodollar-funded programme of development aid in the Caribbean.Chavez spreads oil wealth abroad, cementing support ahead of U.N. vote International Herald Tribune, 14 October 2006.
Voting
Although the results were generally more favourable to Guatemala (which received more votes in every round except the tied sixth ballot), the General Assembly was unable to produce a two-thirds majority for either candidate after repeated rounds of voting. When all the then 192 members vote, a two-thirds majority corresponds to 128 supporting votes.
Day 1 On the first day, 16 October 2006, ten rounds were held:
Round Votes Cast Guatemala Venezuela Abstentions Other 01 192 109 76 7 02 192 114 74 4 03 191 116 70 5 04 191 110 75 6 05 192 103 83 5 Mexico 1 06 192 93 93 5 Mexico 1 07 192 96 89 5 Mexico 1Cuba 1 08 192 102 85 5 09 192 107 81 4 10 191 110 77 4
The votes for Mexico and Cuba in the fifth to seventh rounds were admissible under the provision of the General Assembly's rules of procedure whereby, after three inconclusive ballots, the election may be opened to all members of the regional bloc in question, except those already holding seats on the Council and outgoing members.
Day 2 Voting continued the following day, 17 October 2006. After the small gifts of chocolate (Venezuela) and cotton bracelets (Guatemala) distributed among the delegates on Monday, lobbying for the second day of voting was assisted by brightly coloured bookmarks (Venezuela) and a pamphlet stating its position that was distributed to the U.N. members (Guatemala)."Skirmish for UN seat of power" BBC News, 17 October 2006.
Round Votes Cast Guatemala Venezuela Abstentions Other 11 191 107 76 8 12 192 107 77 7 1 invalid ballot 13 192 112 75 5 14 191 108 76 7 15 192 107 78 7 16 192 108 76 8 17 190 104 78 8 18 191 100 85 6 19 192 107 79 6 20 192 102 81 9 21 192 101 79 12 22 191 102 77 12
Following the second day of inconclusive balloting, the vote was postponed until the following Thursday, 19 October 2006. Given the high number of abstentions in the later rounds of Tuesday's voting, the BBC inferred that delegations may have been trying to send a signal that it is time to seek an alternative candidate; it mentioned the names of Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay. A private informal meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Group was held on 18 October, but it failed to break the deadlock. After the meeting, Mexican ambassador Enrique Berruga publicly called on Venezuela to withdraw on grounds of "diplomatic courtesy".
Day 3 Voting recommenced on 19 October. At the start of the session, Egypt proposed deferring the vote until Monday, 23 October, because of the delays being suffered by other pending business, but this suggestion was rejected by the Assembly.
Round Votes Cast Guatemala Venezuela Abstentions Other 23 190 108 77 5 24 192 106 79 7 25 192 103 81 8 26 191 104 80 7 27 191 105 78 8 28 192 105 79 8 29 192 107 77 7 Costa Rica 1 30 192 107 77 7 Bolivia 1 31 192 108 77 6 Bolivia 1 32 191 107 76 6 2 invalid ballots 33 191 108 77 6 34 190 108 76 6 35 191 103 81 7
Faced with continued deadlock, the General Assembly agreed to postpone further voting until Wednesday, 25 October, to enable the meeting to make progress with its delayed agenda on Friday and Monday, to allow the Latin American and Caribbean states to conduct negotiations towards resolving the stalemate, and to observe the scheduled one-day recess on Tuesday to mark the Eid ul-Fitr feast day at the end of Ramadan.
Day 4 The evening before voting was scheduled to recommence, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced at a rally in El Alto that Hugo Chávez had spoken to him earlier that day and that, since it had been unable to secure a two-thirds majority, Venezuela would withdraw in favour of Bolivia. Venezuela's Chavez expresses support for Bolivia as alternative U.N. candidate, Morales says International Herald Tribune, 24 October 2006. Bolivia ¿releva a Venezuela? BBC Mundo, 24 October 2006.