Oct 17 12:22 PM US/Eastern(AP) - NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (Kyodo) — The U.N. General Assembly on Friday elected Japan and four other countries as nonpermanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning in January 2009.
Austria, Turkey, Uganda and Mexico were the other countries that received at least the two-thirds majority vote of 128 required for election from the 192 members of the assembly. These countries will fill the five seats which will be vacated at the end of December.
Japan defeated Iran 158 to 32, winning one seat allocated to Asian members of the United Nations. Indonesia currently holds the seat.
Turkey and Austria won two seats earmarked for the "Western Europe and Others" region, defeating Iceland by garnering 151 votes and 133 votes, respectively. Existing nonpermanent members for the category are Italy and Belgium.
Uganda was the sole candidate for the African seat, now held by South Africa, and Mexico was the only candidate for the Latin American seat, now occupied by Panama.
Japan defeated Iran overwhelmingly in view of the confrontation between Iran and other U.N. members, especially the United States and European countries, over its nuclear program.
Japan is also believed to have received support from other U.N. members in light of the second largest financial contributor to the world body after the United States.
Japan will sit on the Security Council for the 10th time, the most of any U.N. member. Japan's previous council duty was in 2005-2006.
Japan sees Security Council membership as vital for it to intensify its bid for permanent council membership as intergovernmental talks on the proposed expansion of the U.N. membership structure are to begin soon.
The General Assembly elects five countries each year to fill an identical number of vacated seats.
The Security Council consists of five permanent veto-wielding members and 10 nonpermanent members who serve two-year terms.
Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Vietnam are the other five nonpermanent members who will finish out their two-year terms next year and be replaced by five others in the election to be held in 2009.
Gaining permanent Security Council membership has long been a goal of Japan, which has in the past lobbied for the status in partnership with Brazil, Germany and India.
While U.N. members generally agree that Security Council reform is necessary to help the United Nations effectively cope with new challenges in the 21st century, there are widely divergent views on how to reform it. Past negotiations failed over the number of new seats and whether veto should be granted to new permanent members.
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