Elected non-permanent member of Pakistan Safety Council: Congratulations to Shahbaz Sharif

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday declared it an honor for Pakistan to be elected as a member of the United Nations Safety Council for 2025-26.

He stated on X (previously Twitter) that Pakistan received 182 votes. Shahbaz Sharif added: ‘Our election to the Safety Council with the complete assist of the UN member states at this important time is proof of the worldwide group’s confidence in Pakistan’s diplomatic standing and our dedication to world peace and safety.

“We look ahead to working with the worldwide group to deal with world challenges.”

Shahbaz Sharif added: ‘We’ll proceed to play our function in selling peace, stability and cooperation amongst nations.’

at present United Nations Within the 78th session of the Normal Meeting of Safety Council Elections have been held for the seats of 5 non-permanent members, together with Pakistan additionally participated.

Aside from Pakistan, Denmark, Greece, Panama and Somalia have been competing for these seats. All 5 nations have beforehand served on the council.

Pakistan has served seven occasions, Panama 5 occasions, Denmark 4 occasions, Greece twice and Somalia as soon as within the Safety Council.

The 5 new members elected this 12 months will take their seats on January 1, 2025 and serve till December 31, 2026.

Congratulating Pakistan on X, Overseas Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar wrote on X: ‘Pakistan needs to uphold its dedication to the imaginative and prescient of the United Nations Constitution for the prevention of battle and the promotion of peace. Selling world prosperity and selling world respect for human rights.’

“We’re decided to play an efficient function in sustaining worldwide peace and safety in accordance with the mandate of the United Nations Safety Council.”

Following are the 5 seats accessible for election in 2024 in keeping with the common distribution between areas:

• . One seat for the African Group (presently held by Mozambique).
• . One seat for the Asia-Pacific Group (presently held by Japan).
• . One seat within the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC, presently held by Ecuador).
• . Two seats for the Western European and Different Group (WEOG) (presently held by Malta and Switzerland).
• . The Jap European bloc shouldn’t be contesting any seats this 12 months, as its one seat, presently held by Slovenia till 2025, is up for election each two years.

African group

Three non-permanent seats within the Safety Council are all the time reserved for African nations. One seat is up for election throughout every calendar 12 months and two seats are up for election in odd-numbered years.

Elections for African seats are typically uncontested because the African bloc alternates its 5 sub-regions: North, South, East, West and Central Africa.

This 12 months, Somalia is operating unopposed for the African seat, which is reserved for the East African sub-region.

Asia Pacific Group

Two non-permanent seats are reserved for the Asia-Pacific Group, one among which is up for election yearly. This 12 months, Pakistan is operating unopposed for the seat, which is presently held by Japan.

GRULAC

Two non-permanent seats are reserved for Latin America and the Caribbean, one among which has been up for election yearly since 2007. Candidates for the GRULAC seat are operating unopposed, besides in 2019, when St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a GRULAC-backed candidate, gained the seat with 185 votes, when L. Salvador offered his candidacy days earlier than the June 7 election and obtained solely six votes. This 12 months Panama is operating unopposed for the seat presently held by Ecuador.

WEOG Seats

Two seats within the Council are reserved for the Western Europe and Others group. Elections to those seats are held each calendar 12 months, which might be divided into two. In 2024, Denmark and Greece are vying for the seats held by Malta and Switzerland.

Selective motion

Elections to the Safety Council, like different key UN our bodies, require a proper referendum, no matter whether or not the candidates have the assist of their regional group.

Even when a rustic is contesting an election unopposed, it should receive the votes of two-thirds of the member states current and voting at a session of the Normal Meeting to win a seat on the Council.

Which means if all 193 UN member states are current and voting, at the least 129 affirmative votes are wanted to win a seat.

In precept, if a member state operating unopposed doesn’t get the required votes within the Normal Meeting within the first section, it may be challenged by a brand new candidate within the subsequent section. It’s attainable, however the chance is extraordinarily low.

A attainable council state of affairs in 2025

Political polarization within the Safety Council is predicted to persist and should form the dynamics of the Council in 2025.

Though many agenda objects are controversial, starting from nuclear non-proliferation and sanctions to the state of affairs in nations such because the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Myanmar and Syria, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and October Tensions between council members have risen over the previous two and a half years for the reason that begin of the Israel-Hamas battle in 2023.

The Israeli aggression on Gaza and its ramifications within the Center East have been extremely divisive points for the Safety Council.

These tensions may additionally determine prominently on the Safety Council’s agenda in 2025, relying on the Gaza battle and its aftermath.

Among the many candidate nations, Denmark, Greece and Panama have sturdy ties to Israel and didn’t take part within the October 27, 2023 Normal Meeting decision, which referred to as for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Though Panama additionally didn’t take part within the December 12, 2023 Normal Meeting decision calling for an instantaneous humanitarian ceasefire, Denmark and Greece voted in favor of the decision, permitting humanitarian support in Gaza. After the state of affairs worsens, there is a sign of a altering perspective on this regard.

Group of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states Pakistan and Somalia voted in favor of each resolutions and criticized Israel’s conduct of the battle.

Lately, all 5 candidate nations voted in favor of a Might 10 Normal Meeting decision granting new ‘rights and privileges’ to the Palestinian state and calling on the Safety Council to simply accept UN membership. The Palestinian request ought to be reconsidered.

The state of affairs in Ukraine can be more likely to stay a key subject on the Council’s agenda subsequent 12 months.

This part accommodates associated reference factors (Associated Nodes area).

Among the many incoming members, Denmark, Greece and Panama have voted in favor of all 4 Normal Meeting resolutions on the battle (demanding that Russia withdraw its forces from Ukraine, recognizing the humanitarian penalties of aggression towards the nation, UN droop Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council and condemn Russia’s alleged annexation of occupied territories).

Pakistan didn’t take part within the voting on all 4 resolutions whereas Somalia voted in favor of the primary and fourth resolutions and abstained from the second and third resolutions.

Many incoming members have a direct curiosity within the points on the Council’s agenda. Greece is a key stakeholder within the United Nations Peacekeeping Drive in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which patrols the UN buffer zone between the Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Pakistan is more likely to develop into actively concerned in Afghanistan, from whose territory the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and al-Qaeda have launched cross-border assaults towards Pakistan.

Somalia hosts the United Nations Help Mission (UNSOM) and the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and is concerned within the army marketing campaign towards Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group designated underneath Safety Council 2713 sanctions. Engaged, a chosen terrorist group underneath the Council’s 2713 sanctions regime.

Additionally, rising tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia over Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic within the northern area of the nation, have been the topic of council members’ consultations in January.

One other precedence of many candidates is peacemaking. Pakistan is without doubt one of the largest troop contributors to the United Nations and is more likely to play an energetic function on the problem as a member of the Council.

Somalia additionally has a stake within the subject as a bunch nation and a supporter of UN funding for AU-led peace assist missions. This subject is resolved in Decision 2719 of December 21, 2023.

Denmark can be more likely to be very energetic within the election, having made a contemporary response to the altering safety panorama one among its council priorities.

Ladies, peace and safety (WPS) is predicted to obtain appreciable consideration in Agenda 2025, which is able to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the primary thematic decision 1325 on the problem.