Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia elected to serve on Security Council

The United Nations General Assembly today elected Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia to serve two-year terms on the Security Council beginning on 1 January 2006.

They will be taking the seats of Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Philippines and Romania whose terms end on 31 December.

The new members were elected according to a pre-set geographical mandate, which allocates three seats to African and Asian counties, one seat to Eastern Europe, and the fifth to a Latin American or Caribbean nation. There is also the understanding that at least two of the three African and Asian seats will be African. Members must obtain at least two-thirds of the ballots cast in order to be elected to the Council.

Other non-permanent members who began their two-year terms this January, 2005, are Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Their terms will run out at the end of 2006.

In addition to the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, there are five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Each Council member, regardless of status, has one vote. The Security Council votes on matters of significance to Member States, because their decisions are not considered voluntary or suggested, but rather compulsory mandates.

Decisions on procedural matters require a “yes” vote from nine Council members, and on substantive matters, nine votes plus concurring votes of all five permanent members.