Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday urged divided African leaders to forge a consensus on United Nations reform to keep the continent from losing out if the UN Security Council is expanded.
As the African Union opened an emergency one-day summit aimed at overcoming rifts on how many seats should be added to the council, whether new permanent members should have veto power and which African nations should get them, Obasanjo — the AU’s current chairperson — said the contentious debate is hurting the continent’s credibility.
”We need to negotiate with other groups, unless our objective is to prevent any decision,” he told senior officials from 46 of the 53 AU members, including seven other presidents, eight prime ministers, a vice-president and 29 foreign ministers.
”If that happens, let us be under no illusion: Africa stands to lose more than any other region,” said Obasanjo, who backs changes to the pan-African body’s initial demand for two permanent, veto-wielding seats on the Security Council.
The AU is divided over whether to stick with that demand or alter it in line with a proposal from the so-called Group of Four (G4) — Brazil, India, Japan and Germany — calling for less radical reform to the now 15-member council.
In July, AU leaders called for the Security Council to be enlarged to 26 seats, with six new permanent veto-wielding seats, of which two would be for Africa, and five new non-permanent seats of which two would also be for Africa.
But it has since been asked to join a G4 proposal that would see the council expanded to 25 members, with six new permanent seats without veto power and four non-permanent seats.
The G4 plan envisions one permanent seat each for its members and two for Africa, with Africa also getting one non-permanent seat and sharing another with other developing nations.
Arab states from North Africa, notably Algeria, Egypt and Libya, are strongly opposed to dropping the demand for veto power, while many countries in sub-Saharan Africa appear willing to accept the G4 proposal, diplomats said.
In addition to Nigeria, South Africa supports the G4 suggestion, they said.
Those two nations, along with Egypt, are the leading African candidates for permanent council seats although Kenya, Angola, Libya and Senegal have also put their names forward.
The AU has yet to decide which nations, if any, it will back as a bloc for membership.
Diplomats from the G4 observing the summit at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa said they hope Africa will rally behind their proposal, which is backed by more than 30 countries, including current permanent Security Council members France and Britain.
”We are following the summit closely and quietly with the hope that the African states will reach some kind of consensus,” said Keitaro Sato, Japan’s special envoy for UN reform.
”Indeed, we expect them to support the proposal presented by the G4,” he said.
One AU diplomat said despite resistance from Arab states, the continent appears to be coalescing around a variation of the G4 plan that would drop the demand for veto power but reserve four of the five new non-permanent seats for Africa.
”Even though Libya, Algeria and Egypt are insisting that Africa should have two permanent seats with veto power, we are now coming to a consensus on two permanent seats without veto power and five rotating seats, of which four will be for Africa,” the diplomat said.
”Most member states have supported this stand and we hope we will hammer it out today,” he said on condition of anonymity.
The G4 has embarked on a furious lobbying campaign for permanent seats on the council, with particular attention being paid to African states that could make up a powerful bloc in the world body where a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly — 128 votes — is needed for any draft proposal to be adopted. — Sapa-AFP