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UN Security Council vote: Sri Lanka sends message to Western nations
View(s):In a hard-hitting message, Sri Lanka this week abstained from voting for any candidate–Canada, Ireland or Norway–from the Western European and Other States Group (WEOG) in a contest for the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) non-permanent seats.
The basis for the decision was conveyed to all three countries. They were made to understand that “they also need to rethink the way they do business with us,” an authoritative source said.
“It was an important way to make our vote count,” he asserted. “There is a need for recalibration of our relationships, and a serious re-evaluation of how all three countries deal with us in the international arena.”
The Government felt that, even if Sri Lanka had voted in favour of a WEOG candidate, the same country would have “turned around and let us down at the next international forum”– with Ireland adopting European Union (EU) positions which are often unfavourable to the dispensation in Colombo, and both Canada and Norway easily influenced by the Tamil diaspora.
Sri Lanka’s decision was all the more significant because the race in the WEOG camp was hotly contested and closely-watched.
The election was held by secret ballot on Wednesday and Thursday during the 74th UN General Assembly in New York. The WEOG is one of five UN regional groups and comprises 28 member States, mainly from Western Europe, but also from Oceania, North America and West Asia.
Ambassadors in masks were permitted into the UNGA hall one-by-one. Sri Lanka voted for India and Kenya in the Asia Pacific and Africa Group respectively. Mexico was the only candidate in the Latin America and Caribbean Group and won the seat without a vote.
When it came to WEOG, Sri Lanka left a blank next to the names of Canada, Ireland and Norway. It was the only member State to abstain from voting for any candidate in that Group.
The non-permanent seats of the UNSC rotate among various regional blocs into which UN member States traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes.
There is one seat for Africa, one for the Asia-Pacific Group, one for Latin America and the Caribbean and two for the WEOG.
India, Mexico, Ireland, Norway and Kenya were elected this year.
On Thursday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met EU ambassadors to discuss rebuilding Sri Lanka’s economy after the pandemic. He sought investments in domestic industries and projects such as renewable energy and IT-based education.