International relations expert Dr Vladmir Antwi-Danso has said President John Mahama’s call for equitable representation on the UN Security Council will yield no positive outcome.
President Mahama, who made the appeal when he addressed the General Assembly at the ongoing UN summit on Wednesday, September 21, said: “The United Nation’s Security Council remains an important source of legitimacy for international action on peace and security.
While Africa accounts to close to one-third of the UN membership and only two-thirds of the work of the council, it will mean it is woefully underrepresented in the permanent and non-permanent categories.
Eleven long years after the African Union adopted the Ezulwini consensus, we are nowhere near achieving a more equitable reform for the UN Security Council. Mr President, this will continue to remain a scar on the conscience of this world body if not remedied as quickly as possible.”
However, speaking to Class News, the Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College stated that despite the president’s call, the permanent members of the council will stall any progress towards fair representation.
“What the president has put forward will not yield any result. It doesn’t mean he is wrong but what I’m saying is that unless we restructure the UN, Article 108/109 makes it possible for the United Nation to restructure itself through the General Assembly. Kofi Annan’s 16-member committee, which he formed to restructure the UN, was also thrown away and this is because there is a big problem.
The problem being, every move you want to make will have to go to the Permanent Five again and these are the people who have the veto and so they will continually veto it. So, even though the president has made the call which has been made several times, I doubt if it’s going to yield any result,” the academic observed.
