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(TALKZIMBABWE) 'Hands off Zimbabwe' says Uganda at the Security Council

'Hands off Zimbabwe' says Uganda at the Security Council
Our reporter
Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Ugandan ambassador Francis Butagira suggested maintaining a hands-off posture regarding Zimbabwe

UGANDA has vowed to press the Security Council to approve international intervention in trouble-stricken areas such as Somalia while maintaining a ‘hands-off posture' with regards to Zimbabwe — continuing with South Africa’s, Sadc’s, the African Union’s policy of quiet diplomacy.

Uganda began a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council last week as South Africa ended its two-year term. Ugandan ambassador to the UN Security Council, Francis Butagira made the revelation in a recent interview on UN Radio.

“Uganda supports the African Union position on Zimbabwe,” said ambassador Butagira.

“The crisis there (Zimbabwe) is best dealt with by the sub-region” through the Southern African Development Community, he added.

“The issue of Zimbabwe does not have an international security dimension and thus does not warrant intervention by the Security Council.”

Starting on New Year’s Day, Uganda took the highly coveted membership of the Security Council — a non-permanent seat previously occupied by South Africa.

Uganda won 181 votes from the UN General Assembly’s 192 members in an election in October in which Austria, Japan, Mexico and Turkey were also awarded non-permanent spots on the council.

This is the third time Uganda has been selected for the non-permanent seat on the security body. It was previously chosen for a Security Council seat in 1966 and 1981.

While in this position Uganda has also pledged to push for structural reforms in the UN Security Council.

With backing from the African Union, Uganda will press for two permanent seats with veto powers on the Security Council. The UN Security Council has only five permanent members, USA, UK, China, France and Russia. The five serve continuously and wield a veto which allows them to block action on all substantive issues, including appointment of the Secretary General and revisions of the UN Charter.

Many UN members think the Security Council is not representative and is unresponsive to their concerns. Latin America, Africa and the Middle East have no regional presence at all among the Permanent Members. Reformers insist that the Council should better “represent” the whole population of the globe and thus reflect the membership of the UN body.

TZG/TEA

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, UGANDA, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:18 PM