SVG Deputy PM describes Security Council vote as ‘historic’
Caribbean L 16 ife, June 14–20, 2019 BQ
The General Assembly on June 7, 2019 elected fi ve non-permanent members for two-year
terms on the Security Council starting on Jan. 1, 2020: Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Tunisia and Viet Nam. Ralph E. Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines, addresses press following his country’s election to the Security Council.
United Nations / Loey Felipe
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By Nelson A. King
As jubilation rips through
the Vincentian community
at home and in the Diaspora
over St. Vincent and the
Grenadines’ election Friday as
a non-permanent member of
the United Nations’ Security
Council, Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Affairs Minister
Sir Louis Straker has described
as “historic” his country’s election.
“We had an excellent result,”
Sir Louis told Caribbean Life in
an exclusive interview Friday
night. “We give God thanks
and thank the GRULAC (Group
of Latin America and Caribbean)
and all countries. Many
of them have come to us and
said they were pleased with the
result, notwithstanding El Salvador’s
stance.
“It’s an historic occasion,
and we’re very, very pleased,”
added the Deputy Prime Minister,
who was with Prime Minister
Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves,
Culture and Sports Minister
Cecil “Ces” McKie and other
Vincentian diplomats at the UN
for Friday’s vote.
Sir Louis said just hours
before the historic vote, El Salvador
said it would challenge
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
for the one open seat in GRULAC.
UN diplomats had expressed
surprise about El Salvador’s
last-minute move in light of the
fact that the regional bloc had
agreed in December to endorse
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
as the regional candidate.
“You don’t do it like that,”
the Voice of America (VOA)
quoted an unidentified western
diplomat as saying disapprovingly.
Most other countries seemed
to agree, with El Salvador only
garnering six votes among the
193 cast by secret ballot.
According to the UN, 185
countries voted in favor of St.
Vincent and the Grenadines,
with two abstentions. St. Vincent
and the Grenadines only
needed 128 votes to hold the
seat.
UN General Assembly rules
state that candidates running
for a seat on the Security
Council must win a twothirds
majority of votes to succeed,
even if they are running
uncontested.
“I will like specially to reach
out to the people of El Salvador
and its people,” Gonsalves told
reporters at the UN immediately
following Friday’s vote,
when asked about El Salvador’s
stance. “We’re about peace and
security. I’m grateful to all who
aided in this campaign.”
On Friday, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines became the
country ever to hold a Security
Council seat.
“We’re the smallest country
in terms of geography and in
terms of population,” Sir Louis
said.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
is 150 square miles in
size and has a population of
about 110,000.
Other countries elected in
Friday’s vote in the UN General
Assembly were Estonia, Niger,
Tunisia and Viet Nam.
The four states, along with
St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
will take up their seats as nonpermanent
members of the
Security Council in January
2020, replacing Cote d’Ivoire,
Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait,
Peru and Poland, the UN said.
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