Plans to Reform UNSC:-

[Hakayat e Roomi]

Plans to Reform UNSC:-

Introduction:-

The United Nations Security Council consists of 15 members out of which five are permanent ones. These permanent members include Russia, America, China, Uk and France. Ten countries elected for 2 years on non-permanent basis. The big 5 have the power to veto any decision or purposal. The current structure of UNSC reflects the scenerio of post world war-I era and ignore the other emerging powers of post world war-II age e.g. India, Brazil, Japan, Germany, South Africa etc. So, there is a need felt to modify the current structure of UNSC owing to the reason enunciated as under.

1- There is no permanent membership available to the whole of the continent of Africa. African Union wants a seat a permanent member out of its 53 countries.

2- Some powers which emerged after world war-II, include India, Brazil, Japan and Germany have made a group called G-4 which wants its permanent membership.

3- Any proposal which aims at modifying the structure of UNSC needs the approval of 128 countries out of 193 countries or simply a 2/3 majority.

Plans:-

1- Plan Proposed by G-4:-
• This is the most discussed proposal to change the structure of UNSC.
• This has been proposed by India, Brazil, Japan and Germany. This plan envisages the enlargement of UNSC from 15 members to 25. G-4 proposes the addition of 6 permanent member (G-4 + 2 AU) and 4 non-permanent members.
• 6 permanent members will not have the privallage of veto power.
Objections on This Plan:-
Regional powers are vociferous in opposing this proposal of G-4. These countries are opposed by their regional adverseries e.g. India is opposed by Pakistan and China. Brazil is opposed by Mexico. Opposition to Japan comes from China. Italy hinders the way of Germany in the fulfilment of this proposal.

2- Plans Proposed by AU (African Union)

African Union has 53 member countries which are the opinion that they must be given a represetation in UNSC as permanent member. They want to increase the size of UNSC from 15 to 26 members. The new members would include 6 permanent and 5 non-permanent members. This plan, however, proposes veto power for the proposed permanent members.

3- Plan Proposed by Coffee Group or United for Concensus:-

Another proposal is forwarded by group of countries called ‘united for concensus’ or ‘coffee group’. They want 10 non-permanent members to make the members of UNSC 25 instead of 15. Some prominent members of this group are Italy, Maxico, Canada, Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea and Spain.

Position of the Important Players in World Politics in the Issue of UNSC’s Enlargement:-

1- USA:-
Endorse permanent membership for Japan and India.

2- Oic:-
Oic want reform that would ensure the representation of Muslims countries in security council.

3- China:-
China’s policy aims at support for “united for concensus” and oppose the inclusion of India and Japan in the permanent member of Security Council.

4- Russia:-
Oppose the proposal on the basis of granting “veto” to the aspirants for the permanent membership.

5- France and UK:-
Endorse the G-4 proposal and believe that UNSC should be enlarged according to this Plan.

Conclusion:-

Enlargement of UNSC is not the solution of the current problems, the UNSC is facing at present. Rather an efficient UNSC is the crying need of the time. In the words of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the former strong man of Pakistan when suggested the world,
“Lets build a movement of impotence, lets build a movement of veto”
Veto, a discriminatory power totally against the charter of UN which believes in “sovereign equility for each state”. Veto hinders the much needed journey towards the world characterized by peace and co-existence.