UNITED NATIONS - It was meant to be the centerpiece of UN chief Kofi Annanâs ambitious plan to reform the world body on its 60th anniversary. Enlarging the powerful, 15-member Security Council was supposed to reflect the 21st centuryâs new balance of forces, enshrining the enhanced status of economic powerhouses Germany and Japan - the World War II losers - and the emerging power of India and Brazil.But the plan, which was to have been endorsed by world leaders at their summit this week, has become a victim of the competing egos and interests of rival nations.
| That's never happened before. |
The G4 draft was endorsed by nearly 40 nations, including Britain and France, but it also needed the backing of the 53-member African Union (AU) to secure the required two-third majority in the 191-member assembly. The G4, particularly Japan and Germany, mounted an aggressive drive to woo the Africans, who were pressing to correct what they see as a historical injustice that has left them as the only continent not represented on the Security Council.
But the Africans, led by Algeria and Egypt, pushed their own draft calling for two permanent Security Council seats for Africa - with the right to veto resolutions - as five non-permanent council seats, including two for Africa. That demand for veto power was generally viewed as unrealistic as the five current permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - were unwilling to share their veto right.
| Might as well let them have it, it's not like anything important will get done in the UN ever again. |
| I can see why Senegal would want a veto seat next to China and the U.S., they being so important to world peace and all ... |
| Demonstrating that either the writer is clueless or doesn't want to write the obvious truth about the millenium-long competition between the two countries ... |
Each of the G4 aspirants had serious regional opposition: India from Pakistan, Brazil from Argentina and several Latin American countries, Japan from China and South Korea, and Germany from Italy, diplomats said. But in the end it was the opposition of the Washington and Beijing which sank the G4 bid, diplomats said.
âDonât count us out yet,â Japanâs UN envoy Kenzo Oshima told AFP. Japanese diplomats, conceding that they had underestimated the depth of US and Chinese opposition, put on a brave face, saying they had succeeded in putting their countryâs case on the world agenda. âWe will continue to pursue Security Council reform this year and our dialogue with the African Union and other regions,â said Shinichi Iida, a Japanese UN delegate.
In an interview with French radio broadcast on Saturday, Annan conceded that a Security Council deal would not be agreed at the summit but expressed hope it could be sealed by the end of the year.