Abuse of veto power over world opinion — Why? – Global issue

• opinion Written by Anwarul K. Chowdhury (new york)
• Tuesday, February 27, 2024
• interpress service

Years of abuse of the veto over world opinion, and more so in recent times, have thrown a spanner into any potentially meaningful effort at the United Nations. Such irrational and nationally advantageous actions are ominous for the United Nations to fulfill its Charter-enshrined role.

The General Assembly, with its universal membership, is so ineffective that its decisions are forgotten before they are officially printed as UN documents.

During the Q&A after my talk, I am often asked what one thing I would recommend to improve the performance of the United Nations. My clear and emphatic answer has always been, “Abolish the veto!”

The veto is undemocratic and irrational, contrary to the true spirit of the principles of sovereignty and equality enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

In the same opinion piece, I argued that: “We believe that abolishing the veto should receive priority attention in the reform process, rather than expanding the Security Council by adding permanent members.

Such persistence is truly undemocratic. I also believe that the veto is not the “cornerstone of the United Nations” but is actually its tombstone. ”

All the issues dealt with by world institutions are interconnected, and the challenge of maintaining international (my preferred term is “global”) peace and security has become both absolute and threatening. Masu.

I believe that the increasing frequency of unilateral vetoes by former superpowers is a clear manifestation of that complexity. In other words, the interests of the world have been set aside for the narrow political interests of the leaders of those countries.

This situation requires real and credible action by the United Nations leadership to address the greatest existential crisis facing the United Nations in its nearly 80 years of existence.

We need to reexamine the operational credibility of our much-needed world institutions. What it took to be enshrined in the United Nations Charter in 1945 must be judged in the light of current realities.

If the Charter needs to be amended to meet the challenges of global complexity and paralysis of intergovernmental politicization, let us amend it. It’s time to focus in that direction.

Blindly treating the words of the Charter as sacred may be self-defeating and irresponsible. If we don’t get our house in order now, the United Nations may be buried under rubble.

As the deadline for the SDGs approaches in 2030, the call for “inclusive multilateralism” in the Bali G-20 Summit Declaration suggests that the current form of multilateralism This is a timely wake-up call for us to realize that we are being controlled by vested interests. In most cases, even if we work with a unified goal, we will not be able to achieve the world we want for everyone.

Its elitist multilateralism has failed.

The minimalist, divisive, negative, and arrogant multilateralism we currently experience has given sincere multilateralism a bad name. Multilateralism has become a dirty slogan for countries to hide their narrow self-interests to the detriment of humanity’s best interests. The sad reality is that modern negotiators engage in “political gamesmanship and rhetoric” at the expense of substance and action.

Multilateralism as we currently experience it clearly shows that multilateralism has lost its soul and objectivity. There is no real engagement, no sincere desire for mutual accommodation, no desire to transcend narrow agendas driven by self-interest. It has become a one-way, one-way street for the rich and powerful. Multilateralism today needs to be redefined.

Finally, I continue to have deep faith in multilateralism, and at the same time my faith and trust in the United Nations as the most universal organization for people and the planet have been renewed and reaffirmed!

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury He is the founder of the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace (GMCoP) and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations (1996-2001) and Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations (2002-2007).

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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedSource: Interpress Service

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