Sixty-second General Assembly, Fifth Committee 22 December,2007 AM [PRODUCED FROM TRANSCRIPT] CHAIRMAN: The attention of the committee is now first drawn to Document A/C.5/62/L.17, which contains eleven draft decision on statements of programme budget implications, submitted by the Secretary General on the draft proposals emanating from the General Assembly and its main committees. This document has been submitted by the representative of Norway, Miss Trine Heimerback, who conducted informal consultation on my behalf. CHAIRMAN: Are there any comments on Document A/C.5/62/L.17? I recognize the Distinguished Representative of the United States. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I regret the United States cannot join consensus on this document. There is only one portion that we seek to not join consensus on, Mr. Chairman, and it relates to the -- what's been colloquially known as the Durban Conference, Mr. Chairman. As such, the United States respectfully requests a recorded vote on the portion of the PBI resolution related to the -- what is colloquially known as the Durban Conference. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: Distinguished delegates. The -- oh, okay. I recognize the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. You have the floor, sir. PAKISTAN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Group of 77 and China believes that the particular decision that has been challenged by the delegation of United States should be treated in accordance with the established procedures. That is the programme budget implications that we are taking on all other decisions of similar character. We believe that the ACABQ has provided us a clear recommendation to take note of this particular decision and, accordingly, the Group of 77 and China will vote in favor of this particular decision contained in Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/L.17. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Representative of Pakistan. Now, the Representative of the United States have requested that a recorded vote be taken on Section -- SECRETARIAT: K. CHAIRMAN: K and of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17. The United States, please, you have the floor. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): [OFF-MIKE] ... beg the Chairman's indulgence and the committee's indulgence for a short suspension for some further consultation, sir. CHAIRMAN: I recognize the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. Please, you have the floor. PAKISTAN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that this particular issue has been in the air for quite some time now. And sufficient time, in our view, has been available to all delegations to consult or to express their opinion on it. So we are very sorry that we cannot join the -- or support the request for the suspension of this meeting at this stage. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. Now, I would like to ask the Distinguished Representative of the United States whether you're insisting for the recorded vote to be taken. SECRETARIAT: No, no. If he's insisting on suspension. CHAIRMAN: Sorry. If you're insisting on suspension. I'm getting confused, too. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): Chairman, I really hope it's a really short suspension, just like everyone else in this room. We are asking for a short suspension. I leave it in your hands as to what decision you take. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. SECRETARIAT: [UNINTELLIGIBLE] ... is asking, after that, to go here. CHAIRMAN: I recognize the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. PAKISTAN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Once a vote has been called, I think, under the Rules of Procedure, perhaps suspension of the meeting is not possible, in our view. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the ... [DROP-OUT] Representative of Pakistan. SECRETARIAT: You move now vote. CHAIRMAN: The Representative of United States has requested that a recorded vote be taken on Section K of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17. I hear no objection to this request. We shall now proceed first to the vote on Section K of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17. Before I invite the Committee to proceed to vote on Section G of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17, now I -- does any delegation wish to make a statement in explanation of position before the vote? Now, before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to Rule 128 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now proceed to the vote. I now put to the vote Section K of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17. Those in favor please signify. Those against and those absten- -- abstaining. SECRETARIAT: Will delegations confirm that their votes are accurately reflected on the board. The voting has been completed and the machine is locked. CHAIRMAN: The result -- the vote is as follows: In favor, 93; against, 40 -- 94, sorry. In favor, 94; against, 40; abstention, 6. Section K of Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17 is adopted. Now does any delegation wish to make a statement in explanation of position after the vote? SECRETARIAT: Can you ask what U.S. wants? Canada? Give to Canada. CHAIRMAN: I recognize the Distinguished Representative for Canada. You have the floor, sir. CANADA REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When Draft Resolution A/C.3/62/L.65/Rev.1 was considered in the Third Committee, Canada voted against this resolution. We had serious concerns about the directions that are being taken in preparation for the review conference. Our position on the substance of the conference is well-known and we will not repeat it here. The Fifth Committee operates differently than other main committees, Mr. Chairman. Our role here is not to discuss the substance of the resolutions. These policy decisions are taken by the relevant bodies. Instead, our mandate is to ensure the effective and efficient allocation of resources for the United Nations to carry out its mandates. In order to carry out our mandate, we require a detailed estimate of expenditures in accordance with Rule 153 of the General Assembly Rules of Procedure. The Secretary General, unfortunately, has not provided us with the type of information that we need to make a truly informed decision on the merits of the financial proposal. Mr. Chairman, we believe that the principle of adopting by consensus resolutions containing budgetary implications is extremely important for the proper functioning of this committee. Unfortunately, in the absence of the needed information upon which to make a decision on the merits of the financial proposal before us, we voted against this section of the resolution. We hope that the committee can return to its consensus-making decisions without delay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of Canada. I now give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of the United States. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our concerns related to this resolution were well-stated in the Third Committee and our opposition to these -- the Durban II Conference, as it's colloquially known, is well-stated. We, too, have long tried to observe the procedures and policies and practices of the Fifth Committee and part of the Fifth Committee processes are that we are to be fully informed before we take decisions on reliable estimates when we have something called programmatic budgetary implications in front of us. And, in my discussion with the Chairman of the ACABQ in our last formal session, upon its introduction, we all discussed how this PBI before us was unlike any other PBI, frankly, in the history of the United Nations, with one exception. The only comparable ex- -- comparison was the PBI associated with the high-level event in 2005. In the plethora of conferences and actions that we have taken in the history of the United Nations, no other PBI is similar to this one. And why is this PBI unique? Because it's missing key information. We are experts. We look at things technically in the Fifth Committee, pursuant to the rules of the UN, and we rely on precise and detailed information so we can make informed decisions. Across the board, this resolution lacked that information, lacked that specificity and we were concerned that the practices and the policies and procedures of the Fifth Committee were becoming politicized with the injection of this resolution before us. And, accordingly, we thought it inappropriate to join consensus on this matter and to call for a vote. Mr. Chairman, I thank you and we look forward to joining consensus, hopefully, on other matters before us. And -- I was just handed a note, Mr. Chairman, I apologize. We'd like to pose one question to the controller, if we could. We wanted to -- I reserve that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of the United States. I now give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of Spain. You have the floor. Madame. SPAIN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My delegation made a mistake during the vote. We'd like to have the record give our vote as against, thank you. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of Spain. Are those -- are there any other delegation wishing to take the floor? No. Move page 20. May I take it that the Committee now wishes to adopt the draft decision as a whole? Are there any comments? If there are no comments, may I take it that the Committee wishes to adopt Draft Decision A/C.5/62/L.17 as a whole? I hear no objection. So decided. The attention of the committee is now drawn to the questions relating to the proposed Programme Budget for the Biennium 2008-2009. In this connection, the committee has before it a Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/L.18. CHAIRMAN: I now give the floor to the Representative of Argentina, Mr. Alejandro Torres Lepori, coordinator of the informal consultations on the Programme Budget for the Biennium 2008-2009, to introduce Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/L.18 to the Committee. You have the floor, sir. ALEJANDRO TORRES LEPORI: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's an honor for me to submit to -- to introduce to the Fifth Committee the Draft Resolution on the proposed Programme Budget for 2008-2009. There was quite a bit of work that was needed to get this resolution through consensus. We did succeed and we're very proud of that. And we do hope that the Committee will continue at the same pace, thank you. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of Argentina. Are there any comments on the Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/A.18? I recognize the Distinguished Representative of the United States. You have the floor, sir. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): Mr. Chairman -- thank you, Mr. Chairman. I regret, Mr. Chairman, the United States cannot join consensus on the UN budget before us and we respectfully call for a recorded vote on the full budget, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. CHAIRMAN: I recognize the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. Please, you have the floor. PAKISTAN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I regret to say what I have to say at this moment. That this particular call for a vote on a consensus resolution, which is a product of months of hard work, is indeed regrettable. We believe that, by this extreme action, the Resolution 41/213, that the General Assembly had adopted twenty years ago, has been violated and the spirit of consensus, the spirit of working together, harmony and trust has once again been put under a big question mark. This entire draft resolution had been negotiated for weeks. All concerns expressed by all delegations in a resolution of 287 paragraphs were fully discussed and addressed to the extent possible. All delegations, particularly the coordinator, the secretariat officials, everybody, we worked tirelessly, nights after nights, days after days, and it is really a very sad moment that, after all the hard work, we end up on such a dead end. We really don't know that what message we are sending. It is also regrettable that the delegation of United States has made it a practice to challenge the budget resolution one way or the other. Last year, we had the budget cap, which continued to haunt the General Assembly and the relationship among the Member-States for quite some times and we are very sorry that -- to know that we have learned no lessons from that -- that experience, that negative experience and negative implications that it had on our intergovernmental work. So we deeply regret, we are very disappointed and we will obviously vote in favor of the budget proposal before us. I would also like to express our very deep appreciation and commendation to the coordinator, Mr. Alejandro Lepori, from the Mission of Argentina, for his extraordinary work and also to you, Mr. Chairman, for being with us long nights and you were part of it. You made sure that there was no exclusion from this process. So, after all of that, indeed, it's a very sad occasion and we deeply, deeply regret that. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of Pakistan. Now a recorded vote has been requested. Before I invite the Committee to proceed to vote on Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/L.18, does any delegation wish to make a statement in explanation of position before the vote? Before we begin voting -- SECRETARIAT: Ah, Belgium. CHAIRMAN: Belgium. I recognize the Distinguished Representative of Belgium. You have the floor, sir. BELGIUM REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you very much, Chair. Can I ask the Presidency of the European Union to incovoke [sic] a meeting before we vote? Thank you. SECRETARIAT: Just proceed with the vote, you don't ... [OFF-MIKE] CHAIRMAN: Oh, I can't take the -- I'm sorry, I think we need to proceed with our proceeding. Now, before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that, pursuant to Rule 128 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting, except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. We shall now proceed to the vote. I now put to vote Draft Resolution A/C.5/62/L.18. Those in favor, please signify. Those against and abstentions. SECRETARIAT: Will delegations confirm that their votes are accurately reflected on the board? CHAIRMAN: The voting has been completed. SECRETARIAT: The voting has been completed and the machine is locked. CHAIRMAN: The result of the vote is as follows: In favor, 141; against, 1; abstentions, 0. The Draft Resolution as a whole is adopted. [EXTENDED APPLAUSE/CHEERS] CHAIRMAN: Now, does any delegation wish to make a statement after the adoption of the draft resolution? I recognize the Distinguished Representative of the United States. You have the floor, sir. UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE (AMBASSADOR MARK WALLACE): Let me -- Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for all the hard work that you engaged in and let me join the standing ovation, certainly, for the coordinator, Alejandro Lepori from Argentina. He did a great job. And we do also applaud the efforts that were engaged vigorously over the -- the preliminary budget, as we would call it, that was before us. The work that was done was, frankly, extraordinary and we give a lot of credit to everyone in this room, very strongly. The effort, commitment, time was great and the outcome on that preliminary budget was one, frankly, that we were prepared to live with and that we could join consensus on. We always stated, Mr. Chairman, that we had general concerns and we think that we had common concerns with many members in the room. I think, with some of my -- my friends from the G77 and China, even, that were concerned about the piecemeal approach to the budget. We share those concerns. Our concern, all along, was that this budget that we had and this action that we're taken -- taking today was really on a preliminary budget, an initial appropriation, if you will, through a combination of events, no fault of any one person or entity. And because of that, we were concerned that even -- whatever we were about to endorse was not going to be close to what we thought was potentially the final budget. We tried to express our thoughtful concern that this budget number before us was not to be the final budget of the UN. And, although the budget before us, seemingly, is only modestly larger than the last budget, it, in fact, we know, next year, based upon deferrals and other add-ons, that the budget will be significantly higher. We believe that it's very, very important that -- really the credibility of the UN and to all of our action, that we continue to adopt budgets that are fiscally disciplined and budgetarily sound. It was very hard to do that under these present circumstances. We appreciate the commitment that a variety of folks have shown, including the members in this room, and we do sincerely laud those efforts at committing to budget discipline, even in the coming year. But we were concerned about that coming year. Finally, Mr. Chairman, the ultimate and final straw, if you will, that prevented us from joining consensus on this budget was our concerns about the inclusion of the -- what's colloquially known as the Durban II Conference PBI that will ultimately emanate from this budget itself. Because of those combined reasons, we felt we could not join consensus on this budget and we could -- therefore, called for a vote. Notwithstanding all of that, we, again, as ironic as it may be, do really commend the work of our colleagues in the Fifth Committee and otherwise who did extraordinary work on this preliminary budget before us and we will remain committed to working constructively on everything before us in the coming year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: I thank the Distinguished Representative of the United States. Now, does any other delegation wish to take -- to make any statement? I see none. On behalf of the Committee, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to Mr. Alejandro Torres Lepori for the able manner in which he conducted the informal consultation on this item. Without his patience, perseverance and dedication, it would have been impossible to reach consensus on the Draft Resolution. [LAUGHTER] SECRETARIAT: At the informal, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN: At the informal. On the proposed Programme Budget for the Biennium 2008-2009. I should like to thank all delegations for their cooperation with the coordinator, without which success would have been impossible. I thank you very much. [APPLAUSE] [END]   HUDSON INSTITUTE Sixty-second General Assembly, Fifth Committee December 22, 2007 (AM) 1