U.N. voting system ‘unfair’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33778, 26 February 1975, Page 10

U.N. voting system ‘unfair’

The present onenation, one-vote system of the United Nations was proving unsatisfactory and it was widely acknowledged within the U.N. that countries needed to be more fairly represented, the director of the United Nations Association (the Rev. H. Dixon) said in Christchurch on Monday.

Without doubt the United Nations Charter needed revision. The best suggestion had been that of a graduation of voting strength according to a country’s population, Mr Dixon said.

The present voting system in the General Assembly meant that smaller nations of the size of Nauru (population 5500) had the same voice as China, with its 800 m population, and of India, with its 550 m.

A concentration of smaller nations could block any resolution that was in the interests of two-thirds of the world’s population.

I The smaller oil-producing | nations were once the poor i countries, and were now I rich through oil revenue. (They were a new factor in the equation of power. They could combine their influence against Israel, in the same way that nations had voted to ban South Africa from the last session of the General Assembly. However, although the ban against South Africa had set a precedent for discrimination against other single nations — and Israel was likely to be the next — the oil-rich nations were beginning to adopt a very responsible attitude, Mr Dixon said.

They were like adolescents with a lot of money. Adolescents were difficult to handle within any family, and more difficult when they had a lot of money to spend.

All the family could do was wait until the period of adolescence had passed, and attempt to restrain wrong behaviour.

I However, although the oilrich nations were finding ! their new power a little like ; heady wine, they were acting more responsibly. Although not as much of their money was going into United Nations specialist aid programmes as had been hoped, they were pouring money into aid programmes in poorer countries, and adopting trade measures that encouraged industry in exporting countries. Mr Dixon said that he did not think power tactics would be brought to bear against Israel. Member nations of the United Nations largely regretted their ban against South Africa, and had enough com-mon-sense to avoid problems

by “picking countries off one by one.” Mr Dixon said that although the role of the United Nations had been widely criticised, it still provided a’ forum for international discussion, and a bar of world opinion before! which nations had to I account for their actions. The work of the United! Nations specialist agencies was international and diverse. If the United Nations was discarded, a very large number of other welfare agencies would have to be created to fill the gap, Mr Dixon said.