UNSC REFORM: PGA KERIM PLANS TO LAUNCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000654 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KUNR UNSC GM JA IN PK BR SUBJECT: UNSC REFORM: PGA KERIM PLANS TO LAUNCH NEGOTIATIONS ON ALL OPTIONS REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 545 ¶B. USUN NEW YORK 343 Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Please see the action request in paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) President of the General Assembly (PGA) Srgan Kerim told the Ambassador in a July 21 meeting that he planned to submit a report to the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) recommending that the General Assembly adopt a resolution that the OEWG should continue its work in the 63rd session and that inter-government negotiations on Security Council reform should be launched on the basis of all options proposed to date by member states and using the PGA's own Seven Principles as a basis for further discussions. The aim of the inter-governmental negotiations, Kerim said, would be to seek a solution that garnered the widest possible agreement from the member states. ¶3. (C) The PGA stressed that he would counter any attempts to challenge this way forward, i.e. such as the introduction of a resolution proposing a single way forward as India has threatened to table. (Note: Kerim believes India will not move forward with its resolution. End note.) Kerim noted that he might convene an OEWG meeting in September for states to discuss how they see the negotiation process moving forward, to satisfy the concerns of the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) bloc which has been seeking a negotiating process within an agreed framework. ¶4. (C) Kerim said that, while he would listen to the views of the major stakeholders at a lunch hosted July 23 by San Marino, he was seeking their support for his approach on moving a recommendation to the General Assembly. The Ambassador responded that he would brief Washington on Kerim's plans and seek to be helpful in his own remarks at the luncheon by emphasizing the points we have made before (reftels). Action Request: Unless Mission hears otherwise from Washington by OOB on July 23, Ambassador plans to express support for the PGA's way forward and to restate our key points on Security Council reform. End Action Request. ¶5. (C) Kerim said that he does not believe inter-governmental negotiations will result in actual reform, given the many competing demands from the various groups. Instead, he believes negotiations will demonstrate the need for an interim solution for 12-16 years, followed by a comprehensive system-wide reform effort led by "big personalities" rather than member states. ¶6. (SBU) Kerim provided the Ambassador with a copy of his proposed draft General Assembly resolution copied below. Kerim noted that the language in paragraph (g) describing whether inter-governmental negotiations would "commence" or "launch" is still in play and could be "softened," depending upon the reaction he hears from the July 23 lunch. Begin text of draft resolution: General Assembly, (a) Took note of the report of the Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council on its work during the sixty-second session of the General Assembly; (b) Noted with appreciation the Chairperson's initiative and efforts in the process of a comprehensive reform of the Security Council; (c) Noted with appreciation the work done by the Open-Ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council and its Vice-Chairpersons; (d) Decided that the Working Group should continue to exert efforts during the sixty- third session of the General Assembly aimed at achieving progress in the consideration of all issues relevant to the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council, taking into account the progress achieved from the forty-eighth to sixty -second sessions of the General Assembly; (e) Further decided that the Working Group should submit a report to the General Assembly before the end of its sixty-third session, (f) Decided also that: 1) The positions and proposals of member states: African Union, G-4, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic Conference, Overarching Group proposal, P5 perspectives, Small Five States, Uniting for Consensus, 2) The five key issues: categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Council, working methods of the Security Council and the relationship between the Council and the General Assembly; 3) The followinq documents: Report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council (A/61/47); General Assembly decision (61/561); "Report of the Vice--Chairpersons to the President of the GA on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of Security Council" of June 9, 2008, (Report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council during 62 Session), and 4) The Seven Principles proposed by the President of the General Assembly (A/62/PV47-51),may form a basis for the intergovernmental negotiations; (g) Decided also to commence (launch) intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council, in an open, inclusive and transparent manner, with the objective to seek a solution which can garner the widest possible agreement among Member States; (e) Decided to continue intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council, during the sixty-third session of the General Assembly. End text. Khalilzad