The United Nations votes today for the appointment of new non-permanent members of its Security Council, with Malta among five candidate countries.

The two-year mandate would see Malta join nine other non-permanent members at the UN’s highest discussion table for a two-year term.

Malta, Switzerland, Ecuador, Japan and Mozambique are in the running. Although there is an equal number of seats for grabs, they still need the support of two-thirds of the member states of the general assembly to sit on the council - a minimum of 129 positive votes if all 193 UN member states vote.

The Security Council is charged with handling issues related to international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the general assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter.

It is made up of five permanent members – the US, the UK, France, Russia and China – and 10 elected, non-permanent members each serving two-year terms. 

Non-permanent seats are divided among the UN’s five regional groupings, to ensure geographic proportionality, and terms overlap to ensure five members change from one year to the next.

Although non-permanent members can table resolutions, take part in security briefings and chair Security Council meetings, the five permanent members wield a veto which can be used to stop any resolution in its tracks. 

Malta had served for a two-year term on the Security Council in 1983 after a first attempt in 1977 fell short at the last voting stage. 

Foreign Minister Ian Borg seen with UN Secretary General António Guterres in New York.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg is heading a government delegation in New York ahead of the vote which will be held today at around 4pm (Malta time). Late on Wednesday he had a meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres.

He said the government has been campaigning for the seat for several years and was “hopeful that the international community will bestow upon Malta the responsibility of serving on the Security Council”.

This provides Malta with an opportunity to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in a meaningful way, he said.