3 new countries lose voting rights at the United Nations, and others are waiting
ARK News… UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that Venezuela, Lebanon, and South Sudan have joined other countries that have lost the right to vote due to delays in payments to the UN operating budget.
Guterres mentioned that the other three countries that lost voting rights are Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, which are members of the Security Council for two years, although their voting rights there were not compromised.
The General Assembly decided that 3 African countries included in the list of countries with arrears: Comoros, Sao Tome, and Principe, and Somalia, would be able to retain their voting rights, while the three countries were granted the same exemption last year.
According to the Secretary-General's letter, the minimum payments needed to restore voting rights are $76,244,991 for Venezuela, $1,835,303 for Lebanon, $619,103 for Equatorial Guinea, $196,130 for South Sudan, $61,686 for Gabon, and $20,580 for Dominica.
The United Nations said that, as of January 17, 2023, nine Member States are subject to the provisions of Article 19 of the Charter, which stipulates that a member of the United Nations that is in arrears in paying its financial contributions to the organization shall not have the right to vote in the General Assembly if the value of the arrears is equal to the value of the contributions due in the preceding two full years or more.
Source: UN news + sky news
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