UN: A showdown is likely over the UN chief's radical reform package, writes Maggie Farley at the United Nations
Four states that aspire to new permanent seats on the Security Council - Japan, Germany, Brazil and India - are preparing a resolution to change the UN charter to expand the council. But the group is heading for a showdown with other members of the council opposed to key aspects of the proposal.
Expanding the 15-member body is one of the highest-profile reforms in a package proposed earlier this year by secretary general Kofi Annan to reinvigorate the United Nations and which is the subject of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern's lobbying in Europe.
The council has only been modified once since it was created 60 years ago, with permanent seats awarded to the victors of the second World War: the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia. In an attempt to include more of the countries that influence international peace and security today, Mr Annan recommended expanding the council.
The group of four nations, known as the G4, plans to introduce a resolution next week amending the UN Charter to expand the council to 25 seats. Under this plan, the number of permanent members would increase from five to 11, including two as yet unnamed countries from Africa. The number of rotating elected seats would go up from 10 to 14.
The group aims to have the general assembly vote on the proposed change in June, then select the new African members in July, and have the council endorsed by a summit of world leaders in September at the United Nations' 60th anniversary session. The resolution needs backing from two-thirds of the 191-member general assembly - although some countries, including the US and China, demand at least a "broad consensus" to ensure the change doesn't deepen divisions among member states.
The draft also proposes that the new permanent members have the same veto power as the five existing ones. The US and China have flatly rejected this.
A diplomat from one of the G4 countries, who asked not to be named, cautioned that it was just a starting point for negotiations and indicated that the four nations may be willing to give up the veto demand.
"What's more important than what is in it, is how it will be received," he said. "Every country will look at it and say, 'What's in it for me?' Some might be interested in finding a weak spot and trying to stall the whole thing."
Indeed, opposition is growing among countries that believe that the new plan diminishes their chances for a seat on the council, or who oppose a regional rival's ascent to power.
China, for instance, objects to Japan's attempt for a permanent seat, and aims to block it until Japan formally apologises for atrocities committed against China in the second World War.
The US, on the other hand, has endorsed only Japan for a new seat, and the US deputy ambassador, Anne Patterson, has said that raw feelings about Germany's opposition to the Iraq invasion would make it difficult for the US to back that nation's bid.
Pakistan opposes a seat for its adversary, India, and leads a group including Mexico, Canada and some Scandinavian countries that believe their power would be lessened under the G4 plan. Pakistan and Italy have proposed alternative plans that create more non-permanent seats that include longer stints on the council and a chance for re-election.