Military

DATE=10/15/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=UN/SECURITY COUNCIL (L-O)

NUMBER=2-319713

BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN

DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Japan Among Five Countries Elected to Non-permanent UN Security Council Seats.

INTRO: Japan, Greece, Denmark, Argentina and Tanzania have been elected to two-year terms on the U.N. Security Council. From U.N. headquarters, Peter Heinlein reports Japan plans to use its election as a springboard to campaign for a permanent council seat.

TEXT: The vote was secret, but the outcome was never in doubt. Unlike the past, when bitter contests played out on the General Assembly floor, every one of the regional nominees was elected without opposition.

So on January first, Japan takes the Asian seat currently occupied by Pakistan. Tanzania replaces Angola in one of the seats reserved for Africa. Denmark and Greece take over from Germany and Spain as European members, and the Latin American seat passes from Chile to Argentina.

Five other non-permanent members, Algeria, Benin, the Philippines, Romania and Brazil will remain on the council for another year.

Tanzania was the nearest thing to a surprise candidate. Four other African countries, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Eritrea, were ahead of Tanzania in line for a seat, but all four are parties to issues before the Security Council. So as Tanzanian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul-Kader Shareef explained, Tanzania became the consensus candidate.

///SHAREEF ACT///

"The whole thing started at the African Union, because we have adopted our own procedures how to adopt members, and there were five countries vying for this one seat in the East African region, but eventually all those countries withdrew in favor of Tanzania, therefore the African continent, 53 countries adopted Tanzania as a single candidate for Africa. That makes things easier for the other members of the United Nations.

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Japan's ambassador, Koichi Haraguchi, expressed satisfaction after the vote that his country will rejoin the Security Council after a seven-year absence. Japan pays nearly 20-percent of the world body's annual budget.

A report due out later this year on U.N. reform is expected to recommend an overhaul of the Security Council. The recommendations are said to include expansion of the council by as many as 11 new members.

Japan has joined India, Brazil and Germany in a joint lobbying effort to win permanent council seats. But that four-party alliance has served to highlight opposition from an unlikely coalition that is opposed to one or another of the candidates, or sees other flaws in the expansion.

Japanese Ambassador Haraguchi acknowledged that the road toward permanent council membership is likely to be long and difficult.

///HARAGUCHI ACT///

"There are other countries that have special problem with some specific country becoming a permanent member. I have to admit there are issues we have to overcome, but in spite of that the general mood is that in order for the United Nations, to have the Security Council become effective in a new environment that is completely different from the time when the U.N. was established in 1945, some meaningful reform has to be undertaken."

///END ACT///

Among countries that may oppose the council's expansion, veto-wielding power China has expressed concern about Japan's membership. Pakistan has come out against rival India's candidacy, and Italy has reservations about Germany's membership. There is also the question of a permanent African representative. Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria all consider themselves deserving of a seat.

Another potentially divisive issue is the veto. The five permanent council members have veto power, and are unlikely to give it up willingly, or to share it.

Council expansion would require a change in the U.N. charter, which would have to be ratified by two-thirds of the General membership, including all five veto-wielding countries. Any change is likely to take years to accomplish. (Signed)

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