President Irfaan Ali today hailed Guyana’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2024-2025.
In statement, President Ali said: “Today, Guyana was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nation’s Security Council for the period 2024–2025. Guyana is honoured and humbled by the confidence that has been expressed by the international community in electing us to this most important position of responsibility on the global stage.
“Guyana has now been accorded the opportunity to serve on the Security Council, which is charged under the UN Charter with the responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is a responsibility that we will assume with utmost seriousness and dedication, mindful of the complex and challenging times in which we live.
“The theme of our candidacy ‘Partnering for Peace and Prosperity” serves as a guide to Guyana’s approach to service on the Security Council. We intend to be a constructive and engaged partner with the members of the Council and the wider international community in the search for solutions to the myriad of momentous challenges that beset our human family”.
The President expressed deep gratitude to the Member States of the United Nations for the overwhelming support extended to Guyana’s candidature. He also thanked the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Permanent Representative and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York for their tireless efforts in advancing the country’s candidature and “securing the result which we witness with great pride today”.
A Reuters news item follows:
Five nations elected to U.N. Security Council, but Belarus denied
UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The United Nations General Assembly elected Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and South Korea to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday for two-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2024, while Belarus – allied with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine – was denied a spot.
Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and South Korea ran unopposed for a spot on the 15-member body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security. In the only competitive race, Slovenia beat out Belarus. The five elected nations will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.
The Security Council is the only U.N. body that can make legally binding decisions such as imposing sanctions and authorizing use of force. It has five permanent veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
To ensure geographical representation, seats are allocated to regional groups. But even if candidates are running unopposed in their group, they still need to win the support of more than two-thirds of the General Assembly.
Guyana received 191 votes, Sierra Leone 188, Algeria received 184 votes, South Korea 180.
Slovenia won 153 votes to beat Belarus, which received 38 votes.
Belarus had been a candidate unopposed since 2007 for the 2024/25 Eastern European seat. Slovenia entered the race in December 2021 after a brutal crackdown by the authorities in Belarus on protests following a 2020 presidential election.
Russia has since used the territory of Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The Russians have always argued that a lot of states support Ukraine in public at the U.N., but sympathize with Russia in private. But this secret ballot does not support that claim at all,” International Crisis Group U.N. Director Richard Gowan said.
Russia moved ahead last month with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It is the Kremlin’s first deployment of such weapons outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
