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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan calls for abolishing veto power in UN |
| 2009-03-21 |
| Calling the veto rights of the five official nuclear powers on the UN Security Council "non-democratic" and against the principle of sovereign equality of member states, Pakistan on Wednesday called for abolishing this special privilege. "Experience tells us that veto impacts negatively on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Council," Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told a closed-door session of the General Assembly on reforming and expanding the most powerful UN body aimed at making it more representative and more effective. In denouncing the veto right, the Pakistani envoy joined other developing nations and several European powers, diplomats said. They said most speakers attacked the blocking powers of the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. As the main allies against Germany and Japan in the World War II, the five received permanent seats on the council with veto rights. The five later acquired special status as official nuclear weapons states under the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty. India, Germany, Japan and Brazil are aspiring to become new permanent members of the Security Council. In his speech, Ambassador Haroon also spoke of the difficulties in abolishing the veto rights of the big powers. "The membership is faced with the unfortunate reality that any proposal to abolish or severely restrict the veto is itself likely to be vetoed", he pointed out. At the same time, he said that does not mean that nothing should be done with regard to veto, referring to several proposals aimed at limiting the use of veto and to exclude certain situations from the scope of application of the veto. "Limiting the use of veto to Chapter VII (enforcement provision of the UN Charter) looks appealing but it reinforces the wrong argument that non Chapter VII resolutions are in any way less important or not equally binding," he said. "There is growing sense today that veto should not be exercised in certain situations such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity," he told the 192-member assembly. "There is a strong case to also restrict the use of veto in situations involving external aggression, foreign occupation and self-determination. "As part of negotiations, we are prepared to consider measures, involving voluntary restraints and possible Charter amendments to address these aspects." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Does that mean we get 57 votes - one for each 'state'? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-03-21 22:25 |
| #4 I agree, we should relinquish our UN veto power. And our membership in the UN. The UN can leave New York and relocate to Peshawar. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-03-21 21:07 |
| #3 I call for abolishing Pakistan. |
| Posted by: William Marcy Tweed 2009-03-21 19:56 |
| #2 Actually that's a good idea. Then we would have zero reason to continue in that p***hole of an organization. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-03-21 09:41 |
| #1 for a hell hole of a country they have an awful big head on their shoulders. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-03-21 01:05 |