Research Report

Security Council Elections 2012

Executive Summary

To view the full report please download the PDF here

On 18 October, the General Assembly is expected to hold elections for five members of the Security Council.  The new members will take up their seats on 1 January 2013 and will serve on the Council until 31 December 2014.  

The five available seats up for election in 2012 will be distributed regionally as follows:

At press time, it appeared that Argentina and Rwanda would enjoy a “clean slate” (uncontested) election.  (Argentina is a member of GRULAC, while Rwanda is part of the African Group.)

In contrast, it seems that the other two races will be contested. 

The Asia-Pacific Group has three candidates vying for one available seat:

Three WEOG candidates–Australia, Finland, and Luxembourg–are competing for two seats:

The table below shows the number of seats available per region in the 2012 election, the declared candidates and their prior terms on the Council.  

Region Seats Available in 2012 States Running and Previous Terms on the Council
Africa 1 Rwanda (1994-1995)
Asia-Pacific 1 Bhutan (never served) Cambodia (never served) Republic of Korea (1996-1997)
Western Europe and Other 2 Australia (1946-1947, 1956-1957, 1973-1974, 1985-1986)  Finland (1969-1970, 1989-1990) Luxembourg (never served)
Latin America and Caribbean 1 Argentina (1948-1949, 1959-1960, 1966-1967, 1971-1972, 1987-1988, 1994-1995, 1999-2000, 2005-2006)

 

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