Kyrgyzstan wins seat on UN Security Council for first time ever

• Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe were elected as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2027-28.

• The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.

• The five countries will replace Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia when their terms conclude at the end of 2026.

• The new members will join existing non-permanent members Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia and Liberia who will serve through the end of 2027.

• The Security Council is composed of 15 countries, five of which — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — are permanent members.

• Austria and Portugal won the two seats allocated to the Western European and other States (WEOG) Group, while Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe were elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the African Group respectively.

• Kyrgyzstan secured the Asia-Pacific seat after defeating the Philippines in four rounds of voting.

• The election marks a historic milestone for Kyrgyzstan, which will serve on the Security Council for the first time since joining the United Nations in 1992.

• The other four newly elected members all have previous Council experience: Austria and Portugal have served three times each, Zimbabwe twice and Trinidad and Tobago once.

UN Security Council

• The United Nations Charter established six main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council. It gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council.

• All members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to Member States, only the Security Council has the power to make decisions that Member States are then obligated to implement under the Charter.

• The Security Council held its first session on January 17, 1946 at Church House, Westminster, London. Since its first meeting, the Security Council has taken permanent residence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

• A representative of each of its members must be present at all times at UN Headquarters so that the Security Council can meet at any time as the need arises.

• The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. 

• It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. 

• In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorise the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

• The Security Council has a presidency, which rotates, and changes, every month.

• The Council is composed of 15 members.

• Five permanent members are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

• Ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.

The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis as follows:

i) Five for African and Asian States.

ii) One for Eastern European States.

iii) Two for the Latin American and Caribbean States.

iv) Two for Western European and other States. 

• Every year, the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term. 

• Voting is conducted by secret ballot and candidates must receive a two-thirds majority, or 128 votes, even if they run uncontested.

The right to veto

• The creators of the United Nations Charter conceived that five countries — China, France, the USSR (which was succeeded in 1990 by the Russian Federation), the United Kingdom and the United States — because of their key roles in the establishment of the United Nations, would continue to play important roles in the maintenance of international peace and security.

• They were granted the special status of Permanent Member States at the Security Council, along with a special voting power known as the “right to veto”. 

• It was agreed by the drafters that if any one of the five permanent members cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council, the resolution or decision would not be approved.

• All five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another. 

• If a permanent member does not fully agree with a proposed resolution but does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favourable votes.

• In the years following the end of the Cold War, vetoes were rare, often numbering one or two per year, and sometimes none at all. 

• Since the mid-2010s, hands have been raised inside the chamber more often.

• Since 2022, a General Assembly mandate requires the Assembly to meet whenever a veto is cast in the Security Council, giving the wider UN membership an opportunity to examine and debate its use.

• While non-permanent members do not possess veto power, they can play an influential role in shaping negotiations, building coalitions and advancing issues of concern to their regions and the wider international community.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)