The UN General Assembly has agreed to postpone decisions on competing claims to Libya’s UN seat as well as decisions on whether the military governments of Myanmar and Afghanistan can send ambassadors to the UN in New York.
The 193-member General Assembly unanimously agreed to the advice of the Credentials Committee to postpone the Friday vote on the issues.
Due to the postponement, Libya, Afghanistan, and Myanmar’s present envoys are still in place.
Ambassador to the UN Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana said, “The committee agreed to postpone its consideration of the credentials pertaining to the representatives of Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Libya.”
The 77th session of the General Assembly, which will end in September 2023, is currently in session, and the vote may now be tabled until a later time.
The first step toward their formal acknowledgment on the international stage would be the UN’s reception of ambassadors from the military governments in Myanmar, Kabul, and Libya.
Since the country’s democratically elected leader Aung Suu Kyi was ousted from office and later imprisoned following a military coup last year, Myanmar’s military rulers have been trying to replace the nation’s UN seat.
A former diplomat for Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, Kyaw Moe Tun, will maintain his position as a result of the General Assembly’s decision.
In a trial that many believe was rigged politically and was presided over by the military, Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of corruption and given a sentence of 26 years in jail.
The decision was described as “an essential action with great diplomatic and symbolic significance, at a time when the unlawful coup leaders are striving to acquire international legitimacy,” said Chris Gunness, head of the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), on Friday.
Officials from the past administration of Afghanistan, led by President Ashraf Ghani, who was ousted by the Taliban in 2021 after the withdrawal of US and NATO soldiers from the country, will continue to hold that position.
When the Taliban took control, they vowed to defend women’s and girls’ rights. However, Kabul government officials have banned secondary education for girls and have imposed restrictions on women’s employment and dress standards.
Additionally, the Taliban just presided over Myanmar’s first public execution since regaining power.
Taher El Sonni, the Libyan ambassador to the UN, is also anticipated to continue serving in that position for the administration of western Tripoli. Since a NATO-backed rebellion in 2011 that resulted in the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, the oil-rich nation has been in upheaval.
After failing to hold a highly anticipated election in 2021, which resulted in the division of the nation into two competing factions in the east and west, Libya experienced a political crisis once more. The country’s eastern-based leadership ultimately nominated a rival prime minister who had meant to take over the UN seat after a transitional Tripoli administration resisted calls to resign.
