Security Council elections 2022 [fr]
On 9 June 2022, the General Assembly will elect five non-permanent members to the Security Council for a two-year term, beginning on 1 January 2023.
Composition of the Security Council
Since 1965, the Security Council is composed of 15 Member States:
- five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States
- ten members elected for two years by the General Assembly, in accordance with geographical distribution. Each regional group has an assigned number of seats:
- 3 for the African Group;
- 2 for the Asia-Pacific Group;
- 2 for the Latin American and Caribbean Group;
- 1 for the Eastern European Group;
- 2 for the Western European and Others Group.
Half of the elected member seats are renewed each year.
This year, the election is non-competitive for each of the geographical groups concerned, with five candidates for five available seats.
The candidate countries are: Switzerland, Malta, Mozambique, Ecuador and Japan replacing Ireland, Norway, Kenya, Mexico and India.
Voting procedure
The election for a seat as a member of the Security Council is held in the General Assembly Hall and is conducted by secret ballot. A country must obtain the votes of two thirds of the Member States present and voting at the session of the General Assembly in order to obtain a seat. This means that a minimum of 129 positive votes is required to be elected if all 193 UN Member States are present and voting. Sometimes several rounds of balloting are necessary to decide between the candidates and for a State to be elected.
To keep track of the election results, follow us on twitter @franceonu and #UNSCelections.
Did you know?
At its creation, the Security Council consisted of 11 members: 5 permanent and 6 elected. Article 23 of the UN Charter was amended in 1963 to add 4 new seats for elected members. The reform came into force in 1965.
Switzerland, Mozambique and Malta have never served on the Security Council before
Among the 2023 candidate countries, Japan has served on the Security Council the most times (11 times)
One of the most protracted contests was held in 2006 between Guatemala and Venezuela for a seat in the Latin America and Caribbean group. After 47 rounds of voting and three weeks of deadlock in the General Assembly, Guatemala and Venezuela agreed to withdraw their candidacy in favour of Panama, as a consensus candidate and who was elected on the 48th round.
The two other longest ballots were held in 1979 with 71 rounds (Cuba vs. Colombia) and in 1961 with 52 rounds (Poland vs. Turkey).