Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, UAE elected to UN Security Council for 2022-23 term

United Nations, Jun 11 (PTI) Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates were elected unopposed to the powerful UN Security Council on Friday as non-permanent members for the 2022-23 term.

The 193-member UN General Assembly held elections to elect five non-permanent members who will take their seats on the 15-nation Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2022.

All the five countries won the elections unopposed as they were the only candidates from their respective regional groups vying for the allotted seats on the Council.

As per regional distribution for the 2021 election, three seats were available from the African and Asian States that went to Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates, one Latin American and Caribbean Group seat to which Brazil was elected and the Eastern European Group seat that went to Albania.

Ghana obtained 185 votes out of the valid 190 ballots, Gabon 183 and the United Arab Emirates 179.

Albania got 175 votes out of the 189 valid ballots with 14 abstentions, while Brazil garnered 181 votes of the total 190 valid ballots with 8 abstentions.

Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam will complete their two-year terms on the Council this year and the five newly elected members will sit at the horse-shoe table along with five permanent members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as the five non-permanent members India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway, whose terms at the Council will end December 31, 2022. India will assume the rotating Presidency of the Security Council in August.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti tweeted: "Congrats to all five newly elected members to the UN Security Council. India looks forward to working closely with you all." The election for the non-permanent members of the Security Council is held by secret ballot and candidates require a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly to be elected.

Every year, five countries are elected to the 15-member Council as non-permanent members for a two-year term, according to a geographical rotation set by the General Assembly in 1963, to ensure fair regional representation: five from African and Asian and Pacific States; one from Eastern Europe; two from Latin American States; and two from Western European and Other States (WEOG). PTI YAS IND AKJ IND