The quest for permanent seats in the United Nations (UN) Security Council suffered a setback when the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) informal interactive debate at the UN Headquarters leaned clearly for an inclusive council for promotion of global stability.
Parliamentarians and experts, who had gathered from across the globe for a two-day parliamentary hearing, rejected the idea that the future security council be based on power politics or national ambitions.
Instead, they called for an inclusive council, which is democratic in its composition, open in its working methods and accountable to UN member states for its actions. The council cannot be an exclusive club or function like an organisation of the elite, they added.
India, seeking a permanent seat in the reformed council had made a case for adding new members who had the “weight” to reflect current global power “realities”.
The interactive debate on the reform was part of the annual hearing of the IPU.
Intervening in the debate, Pakistan’s Deputy Chairman Senate Sabir Ali Baloch, who was leading a five-member parliamentary delegation, said by adding more permanent members, the council will become exclusive rather than inclusive. The idea of new permanent members will create new centers of power and privileges, he added.
Baloch said permanent members did not have to revert to the general assembly for their election. Therefore, they had no representation character or constituency among the general membership. This, he added, was contrary to any notion of inclusiveness. In order to enhance inclusiveness, the security council should have more elected members, he said.
He emphasised that new seats based on periodic elections will make the council more equitable, diverse and plural in terms of representation as well as more open and accountable to reflect the aspirations of the general membership, thereby increasing inclusiveness. Such a reform model, he said, would enhance the council’s ownership by all UN member states and further increase the credibility of its actions thus promoting global stability.
Other members of Pakistan’s delegation were Senator Mohsin Khan Leghari, Senator Malik Rashid Ahmed Khan, Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah and MNA Arif Aziz Sheikh.
The two-day IPU conference that concluded on Saturday included four sessions to discuss the role of parliaments in conflict prevention, reconciliation and peace building. As part of IPU’s efforts to support UN action to promote peace and security, participants of the conference identified ways the parliaments could strengthen UN field missions, its peace building commission and the human rights council in addition to examining the role of legislators in conflict mediation, transnational justice and truth and reconciliation.
