1980 United Nations Security Council election

The 1980 United Nations Security Council election was held from 20 October to 13 November 1980 during the Thirty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Ireland, Japan, Panama, Spain, and Uganda, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1981.

1980 United Nations Security Council election

← 1979 20 October – 13 November 1980 1981 →

5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council


Members before election

New Members

Unsuccessful candidates
 Costa Rica (GRULAC)
 Cuba (GRULAC)
 Malta (WEOG)

Rules

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The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms.[1][2] A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.[3]

In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes,[4] the five available seats are allocated as follows:

To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on.

Candidates

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Africa and Asia

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Western Europe and Others

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The candidates for the Western European and Others Group were announced by its chairman, the delegate for New Zealand, prior to the first round of voting.[6]

Latin America and the Caribbean

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  •   Costa Rica – Costa Rica was one of only two countries to declare its intention to seek the one Latin American seat prior to the election. It formally withdrew after the twenty-second round.[7]
  •   Cuba – Cuba was the other country that declared its candidacy prior to the election.[7] However, before the first round of voting, Cuba withdrew, citing conditions similar to the previous year's election, in which Cuba had been an unsuccessful candidate and which had lasted 155 rounds over three months.[6]
  •   Panama – Panama only declared its candidacy after fourteen rounds of inconclusive voting were already complete,[8] having initially endorsed Costa Rica, citing the election of Ronald Reagan as a compelling reason for Panama's presence on the council.[7]
Non-candidates
  •   Guyana – Having received a significant number[clarification needed] of votes in the first few rounds, Guyana clarified that it was not a seeking a seat on the council and formally endorsed Costa Rica.[9]
  •   Nicaragua – Although receiving a significant number[clarification needed] of votes in the middle rounds, the Nicaraguan government decided not to be a candidate in the election. It clarified this position during an extraordinary session of the Latin American Group, and the decision was communicated to the General Assembly through the group's chairman prior to the eleventh round of voting.[10]

Result

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Voting was conducted on separate ballots for the three regional groups.

African and Asian States

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African and Asian States election results
Member Round 1
  Japan 141
  Uganda 134
  Zimbabwe 2
  Senegal 1
  Chad 1
abstentions 3
invalid ballots 0
required majority 98

Source:[6]

Western European and Others Group

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Western European and Others Group election results
Member Round 1
  Spain 109
  Ireland 107
  Malta 74
invalid ballots 0
abstentions 2
required majority 100

Source:[6]

Latin American and Caribbean Group

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The election of one election of one Latin American or Caribbean state took several days to resolve.

Day 1

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The first three rounds of voting took place during the 41st[6] and 42nd[11] plenary meetings of the General Assembly.

Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
  Costa Rica 89 78 74
  Guyana 26 63 70
  Cuba 9
  Nicaragua 6
  Panama 2
  Grenada 1
  Peru 1
  Trinidad and Tobago 1
abstentions 15 1 1
invalid ballots 1 0 0
required majority 90 94 96

Day 2

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The fourth through eighth rounds of voting were held during the 43rd plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[9]

Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8
  Costa Rica 90 84 87 86 86
  Guyana 47 36 25 19
  Nicaragua 22 30 40 60
  Cuba 4 2 1
  Dominican Republic 2 3
  Barbados 1
  Chile 1
  Peru 1 1
  Panama 1
abstentions 6 1 2 2 5
invalid ballots 8 1 1 0 0
required majority 92 100 99 100 98

Day 3

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The ninth and tenth rounds of voting were held during the 47th plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[12]

Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 9 Round 10
  Costa Rica 81 82
  Nicaragua 62 60
abstentions 5 5
invalid ballots 0 0
required majority 96 95

Day 4

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The eleventh through thirteenth rounds of voting were held during the 51st plenary session.[10]

Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 11 Round 12 Round 13 Round 14
  Costa Rica 82 84 83 85
  Panama 16 38 25 57
  Guyana 12 8 18
  Nicaragua 10 7 10
  Saint Lucia 4
  Brazil 3 2 4
  Cuba 2 1 2
  Barbados 1
  Grenada 1
  Peru 1
  Guatemala 1
  Haiti 1
abstentions 3 1 1 2
invalid ballots 0 0 0 0
required majority 88 95 95 95

Day 5

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The fifteenth through twenty-second rounds of voting were held during the 57th plenary meeting of the General Assembly.[8]

Latin American and Caribbean Group election results
Member Round 15 Round 16 Round 17 Round 18 Round 19 Round 20 Round 21 Round 22
  Costa Rica 75 71 62 62 59 58 53 52
  Panama 73 75 79 83 85 88 91 93
  Guyana 3 1
  Barbados 1 1 1
  Cuba 1
  Ecuador 1 1 1
  Nicaragua 1
  Trinidad and Tobago 1
abstentions 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2
invalid ballots 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
required majority 99 98 100 99 98 98 96 97

Day 6

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The twenty-third and final round of voting was held during the 61st plenary session of the General Assembly.[13]

Latin American and Caribbean States election results
Member Round 23
  Panama 111
  Costa Rica 16
  Cuba 2
  Bolivia 1
  Colombia 1
  Honduras 1
  Nicaragua 1
  Peru 1
  Suriname 1
abstentions 5
invalid ballots 0
required majority 90

See also

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References

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  1. ^ United Nations Security Council (2008), Repertoire of the practice of the Security Council, United Nations Publications, p. 178, ISBN 9789211370300
  2. ^ Conforti, Benedetto (2005), The law and practice of the United Nations, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 61, ISBN 9004143092
  3. ^ Charter of the United Nations, Article 23
  4. ^ Resolution 1991 A (XVIII), dated 1963-12-17, in force 1965-08-31.
  5. ^ "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group", Radio New Zealand International, 2011-08-31.
  6. ^ a b c d e U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Forty-first Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Monday, 20 October 1980. (A/35/PV.41) 20 October 1980
  7. ^ a b c U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Fifty-ninth Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Wednesday, 12 November 1980. (A/35/PV.59) 12 November 1980
  8. ^ a b U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Fifty-seventh Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Tuesday, 11 November 1980. (A/35/PV.57) 11 November 1980
  9. ^ a b U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Forty-third Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Tuesday, 21 October 1980. (A/35/PV.43) 21 October 1980
  10. ^ a b U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Fifty-first Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Tuesday, 4 November 1980. (A/35/PV.51) 4 November 1980
  11. ^ U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Forty-second Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Monday, 20 October 1980. (A/35/PV.42) 20 October 1980
  12. ^ U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Forty-seventh Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Friday, 24 October 1980. (A/35/PV.47) 24 October 1980
  13. ^ U.N. General Assembly, 35th session. Provisional Verbatim Record of the Sixty-seventh Meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, On Thursday, 13 November 1980. (A/35/PV.61) 13 November 1980
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  • UN Document A/59/881 Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica containing a record of Security Council elections up to 2004