Explainer: All you need to know about the UN Security Council elections

Kenya will from 4pm Wednesday be hoping to win a seat at the UN Security Council, which will signal the return to the world’s most powerful organ of the global body, after 23 years.

Here are the details about it all.

What is the UN Security Council?

The Council is an organ of the United Nations charged with maintaining global peace and security. It has 15 members, five which are permanent (UK, US, Russia, China and France). Each of the members has a vote each on decisions of the Council, although substantive decisions must be endorsed by all the five permanent members.

The Council also admits new members to the UN, concurrently, with the General Assembly, elects members of the International Court of Justice and may refer errant parties to the International Criminal Court (which is not a UN organisation).

As the most powerful organ, the UN Charter obliges all member states to respect the Council’s decisions. Some of these decisions may include sanctions or authorized use of force.

Why is Kenya seeking a seat on the Council?

As a non-permanent member, Kenya may not have much clout on substantive decisions which are often manipulated by the permanent members with veto powers. But being a member brings with it a chance to be President of the Council, a rotational post where you can push through your agenda. It also enables a country a chance to elevate its agenda and image on global stage.

Who are the candidates contesting?

There are five slots available on the UN Security Council this year. Africa has been allocated one seat. Traditionally, Africa gets two slots in every odd year, and one slot in every even year. The design means the continent will always have three seats at the Council every year.

For the candidates, you probably know Kenya and Djibouti already. But it should never have been this way had Djibouti accepted the endorsement of Kenya by the African Union. So that means Africa has two countries competing from the same region for the first time since 2000.

Other countries, are however, contesting for the four remaining slots.  They are India, Mexico, Canada, Ireland and Norway; representing the various regions of the World as designed to ensure the Council is as representative as possible and that each country big or small has an equal chance of being elected.

This year, the five seats are distributed as follows: One seat for the Africa Group, One seat for Asia Pacific Group, another for the Latin American and Caribbean Group and two seats for the Western European Group.

After the vote, it will mean South Africa, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Belgium and Germany will exit the Council at the end of December this year.  Eastern European region is the only region not contesting this year as its representative, Estonia, will sit on the Council till the end of 2021.

When is the vote happening?

The vote is scheduled for June 17, 2020 from 9am New York time (4pm in Nairobi). This will be the 74th session of the UN general Assembly which ordinarily would happen at the UN headquarters in New York. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the vote is scheduled for online balloting.

Member states will each have a vote as long as they are eligible. The President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, will directly supervise the election

How will the vote be conducted?

Each of the 193 member states will be allocated a vote each to choose from.  Traditionally, Permanent Representatives to the UN cast the ballots, in secret, on behalf of their countries and usually do so physically in New York.

Last month, however, the UN General Assembly adopted a decision to restrict huge gatherings, meaning each country will vote at a specified time slot.

Despite endorsements from their respective regions, each candidate must garner at least two thirds of the voting member states to be declared winner. If no one achieves that at the first round, the subsequent round of voting is restricted to those two candidates with the most votes in the first round. This can go on three times. If neither country garners the required votes, the floor can be opened for any interested candidates to enter the race. If this happens today, it would be the first time in the UN history.

In other words, even a single, unopposed, candidate may still fail to clinch the seat. Until the Council was expanded 24 years ago, more rounds of voting were common. Countries competing could also split their terms, as in 1961/62 between Liberia and Ireland or in 2016 between Italy and the Netherlands.  In most cases, a contender often withdrew for the other.

What are the geopolitical issues behind the race?

Of course the Covid-19 pandemic forced countries to focus on local economies and politics and made it difficult for envoys to travel around the world or meet for campaigns. However, that still means the pandemic is a global problem and the UN is the body meant to guide direction.

However, members of the Council, especially the P5 have differed on the origin of the virus and the financing of the World Health Organisation, the UN agency for health.

Issues of global health, financing for peace and security as well as the linguistic patterns could influence the vote.

Will the voting be broadcast?

Yes. You can watch the election at the General Assembly Hall live on the UN Webcast.