Malaysia, New Zealand elected to UN Security Council as non-permanent members
United Nations General Assembly votes to include Malaysia, Angola, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela as the newest non-permanent members of the Security Council
Malaysia joined Angola, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela as the newest non-permanent members of the Security Council on Thursday after being elected by the General Assembly to begin their terms next year.
Malaysia, which will represent the Asia-Pacific region, will use its two-year term to focus on advocating peace, promoting mediation and enhancing peacekeeping operations, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said after the vote was cast.
He also said Malaysia will highlight continuing discussions on reform of the Security Council among other things after it takes up the seat in January.
“This year has been a year of terrible tragedy and heartbreak for Malaysia,” he said, referring to the “twin tragedies” that brought its citizens together in the face of great loss after two airline disasters. One Malaysian passenger airliner disappeared and another jet was brought down over Eastern Ukraine, killing all aboard.
Angola and Venezuela were selected by the African and Latin American and Caribbean group respectively. New Zealand and Spain garnered the two spots available for the Western European and other group.
New Zealand’s foreign minister, Murray McCully, was pleased by the support his country received from its neighbours, including from Asia.
He stressed that his country had “invested heavily in the architecture of Asia” and would work to “ensure that their voice is heard around the table”.
The five nations replace Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea and Rwanda whose terms end on December 31. Japan is currently running for the 2016-2017 term and appears likely to gain the seat as Bangladesh has stepped down as the other contender from the region.
