| Date | 23 December 2008 |
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Agenda item 118
Programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009
Reports of the Fifth Committee (A/63/648 and Add.1 to Add.4)
The President
We will first take up document A/63/648. The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. For the time being, the text of the draft resolution is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.11. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution, entitled "Conditions of service and compensation for officials other than Secretariat officials: members of the International Court of Justice and judges and ad litem judges of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
We will now consider the five draft resolutions and two draft decisions contained in documents A/63/648/Add.1 to Add.4. We shall first consider the draft resolution contained in document A/63/648/Add.1.
The General Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 8 of its report. For the time being, the text of the draft resolution is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.20. The draft resolution is entitled "Development-related activities". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
We turn next to the draft resolution contained in paragraph 6 of document A/63/648/Add.2. For the time being, the text of the draft resolution is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.21. The draft resolution is entitled "Strengthening of the Department of Political Affairs". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
We turn next to the draft resolution contained in paragraph 6 of document A/63/648/Add.3. For the time being, the text of the draft resolution is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.18. The draft resolution is entitled "Information and communications technology, enterprise resource planning, and security, disaster recovery and business continuity". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
We turn next to draft resolutions I and II and to draft decisions I and II, which are contained in paragraphs 44 and 45, respectively, of document A/63/648/Add.4. For the time being, the text of draft resolution I is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.23.
The President
I give the floor to the representative of France to introduce an amendment to draft resolution I.
Mr. Lacroix (France)
On behalf of the European Union, France would like to request a recorded vote on the deletion of paragraph 3 bis of section XI of draft resolution I, which is contained, for the time being, in document A/C.5/63/L.23. The European Union will vote in favour of the deletion of that paragraph.
The President
The representative of France has introduced an oral amendment to paragraph 3 bis of section XI of draft resolution I, by which that paragraph would be deleted. I should like to remind Member States that, in accordance with rule 83 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, decisions on budgetary issues shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. In accordance with rule 90 of the rules of procedure, the Assembly will first take a decision on the amendment proposed by the representative of France.
I give the floor to the representative of Lebanon, who wishes to speak in explanation of vote before the voting.
Mr. Ramadan (Lebanon)
For both procedural and substantive reasons, Lebanon opposes the proposal just made by the representative of France. Procedurally, this paragraph was discussed in the Fifth Committee and that received the support of the Committee. In terms of substance, the paragraph that we proposed is basically in line with the concerns that the delegation of Lebanon raised during the introduction of the reports of the Secretary-General in a formal meeting of the Fifth Committee. The proposed paragraph is also in line with similar concerns and questions that my delegation raised in informal consultations on the draft resolution. The paragraph also responds to the intention expressed by the Secretariat to provide a revised report during the first resumed session of the Assembly. In that regard, we are grateful for the intention expressed by the Secretariat to do so.
For all those reasons and other substantive reasons we talked about in the Fifth Committee and in informal consultations, we are against the deletion of the paragraph. We kindly call upon all Member States to vote against the deletion by pressing the red button.
The President
A recorded vote has been requested.
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The oral amendment was rejected by 88 votes to 50, with 3 abstentions.
favour=50 against=88 abstain=3 absent=51
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The President
Since the oral amendment introduced by the representative of France has not been adopted, we shall now proceed to consider draft resolution I as a whole. May I take it that the General Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution I?
The President
I call on those representatives wishing to speak in explanation of vote.
Mr. Traystman (United States)
The United States regrets that it was forced to vote on this separate paragraph in the draft resolution on estimates in respect of special political missions. Unfortunately, such language only serves to politicize the proceedings and distracts all of us from the important work at hand.
My delegation hopes that all delegations will refrain from inserting politically oriented language in draft resolutions concerning administrative and budgetary matters. The work of the Fifth Committee should be focused on financial and management issues, not on issues discussed in other United Nations bodies.
Mr. Diab (Syria)
Since the adoption of the 2006-2007 budget on special political missions, my delegation has consistently sought to have a transparent dialogue with the Secretary-General and concerned delegations in order to comply with the relevant legislative mandates related to the budgets of the special representatives of the Secretary-General. To that end, we have been in extensive contact with the Secretary-General and interested delegations to explain our comments. Our observations have been widely understood and supported because they have been realistic, based on concrete facts and related to the political and legal falsehoods that have arisen in the logical framework of the budget of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004).
In this respect, we still hold serious doubts and concerns with regard to the gaps between the process for drawing up the budgets of special political missions and the method for rules-based budgeting. During prior sessions, our delegation has expressed its unease regarding the increasing tendency that we have noticed within the Secretariat, whereby the majority of expected accomplishments and indicators of achievement related to special political missions have exceeded or contradicted the legislative mandates on the basis of which those missions were created. This has occurred despite the sensitive nature of the special political missions and activities, which requires the Secretary-General to ensure that proposed budgets are completely in line with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 55/231 in order to avoid one-sided political confusion that would remove these efforts from their neutral context.
The way in which these indicators of achievement and expected accomplishments are developed does not reflect the sought-after objectives because paragraph 9 of resolution 55/231, on results-based budgeting, indicates that the Secretary-General must use the expected accomplishments and the indicators of achievement to measure achievements in the implementation of United Nations programmes and not those of individual Member States. Moreover, the presentation of the accomplishments and indicators, in several cases, has not been in line with the rules and regulations governing programme planning.
We would like to emphasize once again that the logical framework of the budget of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) is full of political and technical falsehoods. From a technical point of view, the narrative of the budgetary programme of the Special Envoy suffers from the fact that it is not in line with the rules governing results-based budgeting or with the mandate given by the Security Council to the Secretariat. We also note that the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General has exceeded his mandate, thus flouting the guiding principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations. This he did in spite of the fact that my country has repeatedly asked for Charter-based analysis of the indicators of achievement referred to in the budget of the Special Envoy on establishing diplomatic relations among sovereign States. This is a question that has nothing to do with the mandate set out in resolution 1559 (2004) and therefore constitutes interference in the internal affairs of States. It is not in line with resolution 1680 (2006), which stipulates that the establishment of diplomatic relations between two States is a question of a purely bilateral nature. It constitutes a clear violation of paragraph 9 of resolution 55/231, as it measures the actions of States when it is in fact designed to measure the performance of the Secretary-General and not those of Member States. The fact that the Secretariat insists on addressing this issue is a reflection of its determination to violate the oath of office as well as the Charter of the United Nations, paragraph 7 of Article 2 of which states that
"Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state."
Moreover, as we have indicated to the Secretariat several times, by violating the rules and regulations of the Organization and eschewing the appropriate approach, those who prepare the budget for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004), as well as the expected accomplishments and performance indicators, are neither objective nor neutral, because resolution 1559 (2004) explicitly calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon.
In addition, despite the fact that Israel continues to occupy part of Lebanon's territory, the Secretariat has failed to include the goal of Israeli withdrawal from either the northern part of the village of Al-Ghajar or from Lebanese territory north of the Blue Line, including the village of Kfar Shouba. All this information is included in United Nations reports, which leads me to question further the Secretariat's discharging of its mandate in this regard. Why is it so passive even as it focuses on bilateral issues that are not within the purview of the United Nations and attempts to deflect attention from the real problems in the region? Those problems have to do with Israel's practices and the fact that it continues to occupy Arab territories.
My delegation is surprised that those who drafted the budget for the implementation of resolution 1559 (2004) should ignore the fact that their job includes monitoring and recording aerial, naval and ground violations of Lebanon's sovereignty. They have rejected a performance indicator in that regard by stating that the resolution does not call for one. Meanwhile, the mandate of the Special Envoy has been broadened to include the implementation of other Security Council resolutions that have nothing to do with resolution 1559 (2004), despite the fact that other mechanisms already exist to implement those other resolutions. All of that is intended to serve a certain political agenda, of which we are all aware.
In resolution 61/252, the General Assembly emphasized coherence between legislative mandates and the structures of special political missions. However, the Secretariat has continued to ignore the resolution and to interpret resolution 1559 (2004) in a manner that distorts the mandate. It has done so by developing performance indicators that interfere in bilateral relations between countries.
The Secretary-General has not met the requirements of resolution 1559 (2004), because paragraph 2 of the resolution has not been implemented. That paragraph explicitly calls for the withdrawal of the remaining foreign forces from Lebanon, specifically Israeli forces. The Secretariat has therefore worked around the mandate of resolution 1559 (2004) and has not reflected the ongoing reality that we are all aware of, including the Secretary-General himself, namely, the presence of Israeli forces on Lebanese territory. The Secretariat also ignores daily violations by Israel, which are documented in reports of the Secretary-General, as well as violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The President
I would kindly like to remind the representative of Syria that the General Assembly has agreed not to discuss the reports in plenary meeting. In addition, the 10 minutes permitted have already elapsed.
Mr. Diab (Syria)
My country's delegation therefore asks the Secretary-General to consider the following.
First, we have asked that performance indicators pertaining to the establishment of diplomatic links and the demarcation of borders between States be scrapped, for they have nothing to do with the mandate of the Special Envoy and violate the letter and spirit of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004).
Secondly, we have asked him to stress the second preambular paragraph of resolution 1559 (2004), in which the Security Council reiterated
"its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders".
Performance indicators must therefore be included to reflect Israel's aerial, ground and naval violations of Lebanon's sovereignty.
Thirdly, we asked the Secretary-General to highlight paragraph 2 of resolution 1559 (2004), in which the Council calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon. Consequently, there should be a performance indicator on the withdrawal of foreign forces, including from the village of Al-Ghajar and from the area north of the Blue Line, so as to reflect the situation on the ground and bolster the credibility of the Secretary-General vis-à-vis the resolutions that have been adopted on the subject of special political missions.
Finally, my delegation requests the Secretary-General to include those comments in his report to the Fifth Committee to be considered during the resumed session. We shall closely follow all developments in that regard.
The President
I should like to remind members that we are taking too much time.
Mr. Ramadan (Lebanon)
The delegation of Lebanon would like to thank all Member States that voted in favour of retaining the paragraph. We are very grateful to them.
The delegation of Lebanon would also like once again to express its appreciation for the intention expressed by the Secretariat to provide a revised report during the first resumed session. In fact, as I have explained, the purpose of our paragraph was just to respond to the intention expressed by the Secretariat, for which we are very thankful.
The delegation of Lebanon also believes that positive developments have taken place since the adoption of the previous resolution of the General Assembly on the special political estimates. The resumption of the political dialogue in Lebanon and the recent developments in relations between Lebanon and Syria, specifically progress achieved in the establishment of diplomatic relations and the decision to set up permanent diplomatic missions, are issues that relate to the mandate of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004), which is mentioned clearly in that resolution, in resolution 1680 (2006) and related statements by the President of the Council.
Those positive developments only prove and attest to the position that we have taken as a delegation over the past three years, as well as to the commitment of all Lebanese to enhancing and strengthening their relations with Syria. It is a commitment that all the Lebanese expressed again in 2006 in their dialogue when they called for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria and the resolution of all pending issues between the two countries, including the delineation of their common border.
In addition to those developments, Lebanon has a long-standing position that violations of Lebanese sovereignty by Israel and its continued occupation of Lebanese land as we speak today fall within the mandate of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004).
The President
Draft resolution II is entitled "Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009". For the time being, the text of draft resolution II is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.24. The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
Draft decision I is entitled "United Nations Fund for International Cooperation". For the time being, the text of draft decision I is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.24. The Fifth Committee adopted draft decision I without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
Draft decision II is entitled "Rental of office space in the Secretariat by the Group of 77 and China". For the time being, the text of draft decision II is contained in document A/C.5/63/L.24. The Fifth Committee adopted draft decision II without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 118.
