Kazakhstan was elected to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member on Tuesday, beating Thailand in a second round of voting to join Sweden, Ethiopia and Bolivia for a two-year term starting January 1, 2017.
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For the first time since 1998, Sweden has been elected a non-permanent member to the UN Security Council.
Ethiopia’s bid for a non-permanent seat at the UNSC came following the unanimous endorsement at the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government, held from 30-31 January 2016 in Addis Ababa.
While Kazakhstan offers freshness at the global stage, Thailand is promoting sustainable development with a focus on sufficiency economy as its key strength in the competition for one of the 10 non-permanent seats.
After the first round, Kazakhstan was ahead with 113 votes compared to 77 for Thailand, but the central Asian country fell short of the two-thirds majority required to win election to the seat reserved for Asia.
After the third-round results were announced, General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft adjourned the meeting until 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) when a fourth ballot between the Netherlands and Italy will take place.
Bolivia, which had the backing of Latin American and Caribbean countries, won 183 votes. Seats are allocated by region, and regional groups nominate candidates.
“Even if Sweden is elected a member to the UN Security Council for two years, our campaign has left a bad taste in the mouth”, Helmerson wrote. It was sponsored by the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA).
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Kazakhstan’s pitch has been that it would be the first former Soviet Asian nation on the Council if elected. It also campaigned on its leadership in nuclear disarmament, having given up its nuclear weapon stockpile and playing a prominent anti-proliferation role.
