G4 Draft on UN Security Council Expansion

Germany, Brazil, India and Japan on Wednesday submitted a draft resolution on a proposed expansion of the UN Security Council for an early vote in the UN General Assembly, Germany's UN envoy Gunter Pleuger said. He told AFP that the so-called Group of Four planned to call for a debate in the General Assembly as early as next week. The draft, submitted to the UN Secretariat, provides for an expansion of the UN Security Council from the current 15 members to 25, with the creation of six new permanent seats without right of veto and four non-permanent seats. It does not spell out which countries would secure the seats but diplomats said the six new permanent seats would go to the G4 and two African countries yet to be selected. At present, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the only permanent and veto-wielding members of the powerful UN body, which also has 10 rotating non-permanent members without veto power.