Lebanon to Become Non-Permanent U.N. Security Council Member
The U.N. General Assembly will elect Lebanon as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in September, An Nahar daily reported Monday.
It said Lebanon will serve a two-year term starting Jan. 1, 2010.
The Council currently has five permanent members with veto power — the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France — and 10 non-permanent members who serve two-year terms and have no power to veto resolutions.
The 10 elected members enjoy all other aspects of council membership, including the right to propose resolutions, chair committees and hold the rotating council presidency for one-month periods.
Five countries are elected every year by the General Assembly to replace five retiring ones.
An Nahar quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Lebanon”s non-permanent member status will not help it in forcing Israel to implement Security Council resolutions on Lebanon, particularly resolutions 1595 and 1701.
Article 27 of the U.N. Charter also states that a party to a dispute should abstain from voting on any draft resolution.
The sources stressed that Lebanese politicians should stop their bickering and give a positive image of their country which will become a member of the Security Council.
They said some leaders continue to violate the Doha Accord either through media campaigns or attacks on national dialogue and the defense strategy or threats to use veto power in the government.