NEW YORK: Pakistan has told the UN General Assembly that the issue of the veto power, which gives the Security Council’s five permanent members disproportionate sway in matters of international peace and security, should be tackled as part of the 15-member body’s reform aimed at making it more effective.
Speaking in a debate on the use of the veto, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said the Security Council has often been paralyzed by the strategic rivalries of its permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US — and the exercise of the veto.
“It comes as no surprise therefore, and past and recent experiences have confirmed that the abolition, or restraint on the use of veto, will have to be an integral part of the reform of the Security Council,” he added.
‘We note that their proposals are designed to reinvigorate the Charter functions of the General Assembly and are not related to, or impinge upon, the IGN’s (Inter-Governmental Negotiations’) consideration of Security Council reform.”
The 2022 Assembly’s resolution, adopted by consensus, calls for the General Assembly to automatically meet within 10 days if any of the five permanent members uses their right of veto.
The aim is to hold those countries accountable for exercising this special voting power, which allows them to block any Council resolution or decision.
This right is enshrined in the UN Charter, the Organization’s founding document, because of their key roles in establishing the global body eight decades ago.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said that Pakistan – together with the UfC (Uniting for Consensus) Group – remains opposed to the creation of new permanent members on an expanded Security Council.
“More permanent members and more vetoes will only aggravate the problem, and multiply the likelihood of paralysis or inaction by the Security Council.”he told the 193-member Assembly.
“Let us be clear: The problem cannot be the solution,” the Pakistani envoy added.
