NEWYORK: Pakistan has proposed balancing the veto power of permanent members of UN Security Council by restricting the use of this power and increasing the number of non-permanent members.
The proposal was made by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad while participating in the Debate in the General Assembly on the ‘Right to Veto’.
The Ambassador said currently there are 5 permanent members of UN Security Council and 10 non-permanent members giving a ratio of 1:2, so increasing the elected members to 20 for a ratio of 1:4 will significantly change the balance of power in the Council in a democratic way, putting the power to approve or block in the hands of the majority.
The Ambassador said the Security Council, which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, has often been paralyzed or incapacitated, due to pursuit of narrow interests, and the strategic rivalries between its permanent members that lead to the misuse or abuse of the veto and thus prevents the Council from discharging its duties.
He said Pakistan, together with the Uniting for Consensus group, remains opposed as a matter of principle, to the addition of any new individual permanent members on an expanded Security Council.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said we believe that the veto right of the existing permanent members should be abolished or at least severely restricted and must not be expanded.
The Ambassador said Pakistan remains convinced that the final resolution of the issue of the veto will have to be found as an integral part of the reform of the Security Council.
He said for reasons prevailing in 1945, veto was perhaps considered necessary by the framers of the Charter but times have changed and this privilege, especially its misuse, has little justification today, in eyes of the majority of the membership.
