Indonesia won a United Nations Security Council seat as a non-permanent member for the 2019-2020 period after beating the Maldives in a vote at a UN General Assembly session on Friday (8/6/2018).
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AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT
The delegation from Indonesia reacts after the vote during a General Assembly meeting to elect the five non-permanent members of the Security Council June 8, 2018, at the United Nations in New York.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia won a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat as a non-permanent member for the 2019-2020 period after beating the Maldives in a vote at a UN General Assembly session at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday (8/6/2018). The UNSC membership will give Indonesia the opportunity to be more involved in safeguarding world peace.
“Indonesia obtains 144 votes. Congratulations to all the winners,” said Miroslav Lacjak, who presided over the assembly, in his speech announcing Indonesia’s victory. During the assembly session, 190 out of 193 UN member countries were present.
This is the fourth time Indonesia has obtained a UNSC seat as a non-permanent member. The three previous times were in 1973-1974, 1995-1996 and 2007-2008. Indonesia will serve in the UNSC for two years starting from January 1, 2019.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who attended the voting session at the UN headquarters, said that the victory was proof of global trust in Indonesia. “The world approves of Indonesia’s contributions to global peace,” she said from New York.
AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT
(Left to right) the Foreign Ministers from Germany, Heiko Maas; South Africa, Lindiwe Sisulu; Dominican Republic, Miguel Vargas; Indonesia, Retno Marsudi and Belgium, Didier Reynders; pose for photos on the floor of the Security Council after a General Assembly meeting to elect the five non-permanent members of the Security Council June 8, 2018, at the United Nations in New York.
Retno said that Indonesia had four main agendas and one priority issue. The four agendas are strengthening global stability and peace, strengthening synergy and cooperation among regional organizations, establishing a global, comprehensive approach to fighting terrorism and radicalism and pushing for the creation of a global partnership that focuses on peace to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Apart from the four agendas, Indonesia will also focus on the Palestine issue. Indonesia will urge other UNSC member states to make the UNSC more efficient and accountable.
The UNSC is the only UN body that has the authority to make legally binding rulings, impose sanctions and deploy security forces.
Not easy
Retno said that the road to securing the UNSC seat was not a smooth one this time around. Indonesia launched its campaign in 2016. “This morning, I was still contacting by phone the foreign ministers of friendly countries,” she said.
Indonesia’s diplomatic corps continuously lobbied countries to support Indonesia in the voting on Thursday. Apart from approaching UN representatives, in the past two months, Retno visited several countries to gain support.
AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT
The results are announced during a General Assembly meeting to elect the five non-permanent members of the Security Council June 8 at the United Nations in New York.
Indonesia will establish two task forces, one in Jakarta and one in New York. The task force in New York will begin its work in October this year. Between October and December, Indonesia will be given an observer status in the UNSC to enable Indonesian delegates to habituate themselves with UNSC conditions and working mechanisms.
Indonesia will send a deputy of its Permanent Representative to the UN to join in UNSC’s various work agendas. Different from other UN bodies, the UNSC is considerably more active and holds meetings more often.
Indonesia was elected to represent the Group of Asia-Pacific states. Other than Indonesia, four other countries were elected as UNSC non-permanent members, namely Germany and Belgium (representing Group of Western European and other states), South Africa (representing Group of African states) and the Dominican Republic (representing Group of Latin American and Caribbean states). These five UNSC non-permanent members will join five other non-permanent members (Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland) and five permanent members (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia).
