Burkina Faso, Vietnam and Libya Elected to U.N. Security Council
According to a press release issued by the United Nations on Tuesday, the U.N. General Assembly (made up of all 190 member nations) elected Vietnam, Burkina Faso, and Libya to the Security Council. The West African nation of Burkina Faso received the greatest number of votes in approval (185), while Libya received 178 and Vietnam 183. Mauritania and Senegal received a few votes, but had not declared candidacy for the region. No nations abstained from voting.
General Assembly member nations also voted to elect non-permanent Security Council members for Latin America and Eastern Europe, but none of candidates received a sufficient (two-thirds) majority of the votes to be elected. The Dominican Republic received 72 votes, while Costa Rica received 116. The Czech Republic only gained 91 votes, and Croatia received 95. Member nations will have to vote again, and are required to vote for one of the two countries which received the greatest number of votes. Four countries abstained from the vote on Eastern Europe.
The nations being elected to the Security Council are to replace current non-permanent members Slovakia, Peru, Ghana, the Congo, and Qatar. Italy, Indonesia, Belgium, Panama, and S. Africa will remain non-permanent members until the end of December 2008. The Security Council also has five permanent members, which are located in Europe, Asia, and North America.
A Reuters news story from last week indicated that Libya has previously held a Security Council seat during part of the 1970s, while this will be Vietnam's first appearance as a member of the Council. The news story also indicated that the U.S. did not attempt to prevent either country from gaining a seat, despite trying to prevent Libya from being elected in the past.
According to the CIA World Factbook page on Burkina Faso, it has a population of about 14.3 million, French is its official language, and it borders several countries, including Mali and Ghana. The factbook indicates that the southeast Asian nation of Vietnam is a bit larger than New Mexico, exports and imports about the same value of products, and has over fourteen million internet users. Its entry on Libya states that the North African country has about six million people, a life expectancy of almost seventy seven years, and an almost entirely Muslim population.
Sources:
1. United Nations General Assembly, http://www.un.org/ga/news/news.asp?NewsID=24294
2. CIA World Factbook (public domain), https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html
3. Reuters, http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN07274281.html
Published by Z. Perry
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