Dominican Republic wins seat on UN Security Council

United Nations, June 9 (IANS) The Dominican Republic was elected Friday to one of the 10 non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for the 2019-2020 term.

Its candidacy, which was unopposed within Latin America and the Caribbean, won the support of 184 of the 193 UN member-states, Efe reported.

In addition to the Dominican Republic, the UN General Assembly elected four other non-permanent Security Council members: South Africa, Germany, Belgium and Indonesia.

The first three countries ran unopposed and received the support of their regional groups, as in the case of the Dominican Republic, while Indonesia ran against the Maldives for the Council seat reserved for the Asia and the Pacific region.

To be elected to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a candidate-country must receive the support of two thirds of the member-states in the General Assembly.

This is the first time that the Dominican Republic will be on the Security Council, which is one of the main organs of the UN and is entrusted with the maintenance of peace and security.

The new Council members will begin their two-year terms on January 1, replacing Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Meanwhile, Peru, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, and Poland will remain as non-permanent Security Council members in 2019.

The Council also has five permanent members with veto power: the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom.