MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Costa Rica elected to Latam seat in UN Security Council

Costa Rica and Croatia were elected on Tuesday to the United Nations Security Council for 2008-09 after their respective rivals, the Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic pulled out after two rounds of voting.

The two countries overwhelmingly won the required two-thirds majority of votes from the 192-member General Assembly in a formal third ballot in which they were the only candidates for the two nonpermanent seats still vacant. Earlier, unopposed Libya, Vietnam and Burkina Faso had won non-permanent seats for 2008-09 in the first ballot. Costa Rica represents one of two members of the Latin American and Caribbean States grouping and replaces Peru. Announcing the results of the first round in the African and Asian category, where three seats were available, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said Burkina Faso had received 185 votes out of a possible 190, while Viet Nam picked up 183 and Libya received 178. The three countries – which replace Congo, Ghana and Qatar when their terms expire at the end of this year – were the only declared candidates for the region. Mauritania picked up two votes, Senegal received one and there were no abstentions. In the Eastern European category, where 124 votes were needed for victory, Croatia received 95 and Czech Republic picked up 91. There were four abstentions. In the Latin American and Caribbean grouping, where 126 votes were needed to win, Costa Rica obtained 116 and the Dominican Republic received 72. The members were elected according to an agreed geographic allocation, which awards three seats to African and Asian countries, one to Eastern European States, and one to the Latin American and Caribbean region during this year's round of elections. Council elections are held by secret ballot in the General Assembly, and a winning candidate requires a two-thirds majority of ballots of members present and voting. Formal balloting takes place even in those regions where there is only one candidate per available seat. The Council's five other non-permanent members, whose terms end on 31 December 2008, are Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa. The five permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States.