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1999 United Nations Security Council election

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1999 United Nations Security Council election

← 1998 14 October 1999 2000 →

5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council


Members before election

 Gabon (Africa)
 Gambia (Africa)
 Bahrain (Asia, Arab)
 Brazil (LatAm&Car)
 Slovenia (E. Europe)

New Members





Unsuccessful candidates
 Slovakia (Eastern European Group)

The 1999 United Nations Security Council election was held on 14 October 1999[1] during the Fifty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia, and Ukraine, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2000. Notably, Ukraine was elected to the Council for the first time as an independent nation.

Rules

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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.[2][3] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.[4]

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,[5] the five available seats are allocated as follows:[6]

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.

Candidatures

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Prior to the vote, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Gurirab informed the General Assembly of the candidates as follows: Bangladesh, Mali, and Tunisia from the African and Asian States as endorsed candidates, Jamaica from the Latin American and Caribbean States as the endorsed candidate, and Slovakia and Ukraine from the Eastern European States as candidates not enjoying the full endorsement of their respective regional group.

Results

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African Group

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African and Asian States election results
Member Round 1
 Bangladesh 172
 Tunisia 172
 Mali 171
abstentions 0
invalid ballots 0
required majority 115
ballots distributed 172

Latin American and Caribbean Group

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Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 1
 Jamaica 171
abstentions 0
invalid ballots 1
required majority 114
ballots distributed 172

Eastern European Group

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Eastern European Group election results
Member Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
 Ukraine 92 98 113 158
 Slovakia 79 72 57 3
abstentions 0 0 0 6
invalid ballots 1 1 0 1
required majority 114 114 114 108
ballots distributed 172 171 170 168

Prior to the fourth round of voting, Mr. Tomka of Slovakia rose to speak. He thanked all the delegations for their support for Slovakia's bid for Security Council membership, and then formally withdrew their candidacy, wishing Ukraine well.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS: Principal Organs". United Nations.
  2. ^ United Nations Security Council (2008), Repertoire of the practice of the Security Council, United Nations Publications, p. 178, ISBN 9789211370300
  3. ^ Conforti, Benedetto (2005), The law and practice of the United Nations, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 61, ISBN 9004143092
  4. ^ Charter of the United Nations, Article 23
  5. ^ Resolution 1991 A (XVIII), dated 1963-12-17, in force 1965-08-31. See also the notes accompanying Rules 142 to 144 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly and Item 114(a) (page 175) of UN Document A/66/100, Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly.
  6. ^ "Security Council Elections 2011" (PDF). Security Council Report: Special Research Report. 21 September 2011.
  7. ^ "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group", Radio New Zealand International, 2011-08-31.
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