UN General Assembly President reboots Council reform process

By Arul Louis

United Nations, Nov 8 (IANS) UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak is rebooting the Security Council reform process with call for an early start and the appointment of two new co-chairs for the negotiations.

"The time for trying is up; now is the time for action," he told the General Assembly session on Council reforms on Tuesday.

Emphasising the urgency for reforms, he said that the Council's "decisions can mean the difference between life or death" as it is the UN body charged with maintaining peace and security.

Last week, he appointed Permanent Representatives Kaha Imnadze of Georgia and Lana Zaki Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the co-chairs of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN), as the reform process is known.

Lajcak said: "We shall start as early as possible."

He said that a "full calendar" of the IGN will be be circulated to allow for planning.

"I hope this will both enhance the quality of our discussions and facilitate engagement by all delegations," he said.

Georgia has supported increasing the number of permanent members of the Council, which India wants. UAE has expressed support for India gaining a permanent seat on the Council.

While their national stands is not supposed to colour their role as IGN co-chairs, not having someone from a country opposed to expanding the Council could be seen as a plus.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)