Global leaders gathered in New York recently, for the high-level general debate of the United Nations General Assembly’s 81st session. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the gathering for the final time before his mandate ends.
During his opening remarks he described Africa as a “double victim of colonialism,” noting that historic subjugation prevented African nations from having a voice or a permanent seat when post-World War II international institutions were created.
Addressing the “Unstoppable Africa 2026 forum on the margins of the 81st UN General Assembly” on Sept. 20, Guterres emphasized that the Security Council was designed in the aftermath of World War II when most of Africa was still under colonial rule.
He said the Security Council’s current configuration fails to reflect today’s fundamentally changed world and demographic realities. “Africa (the UNGA’s largest voting bloc) deserves permanent seats on the Security Council to reflect the current reality of the world,” he said, according to reporting by TRT Africa.
He later stated that, “This must change.” He urged permanent representation be granted to Africa as part of broader global governance and multilateral financial architecture reforms.
United States President Donald Trump, representing the host country spoke next. He again attacked the United Nations, which he believes is “imposing a radical-left wing agenda,” noted the BBC. The BBC noted that according to its “UN insiders” they describe first year of Trump’s second term as one of chaos for the international body, but that the UN is now in a marginally better position.
During Trump’s meandering 40-plus minute speech, where he didn’t mention Africa, at all but continued threats against Iran. He added, an agreement could be made between Iran and the U.S. after U.S. mid-term elections in November.
Giving substance to why the Secretary-General urged permanent representation on the Security Council be given to African countries, we must revisit the 64th UN General Assembly and to Libyan leader, Muammar Gadhafi’s 2009 speech. At the time the chairman of the African Union, the Libyan leader’s remarks took permanent members of the Security Council: United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, to task.
Clad in copper colored African garb, with an emblem of Africa pinned to the front, while reading from a copy from the UN Charter, Colonel Gadhafi said, “The veto is against the charter, we do not accept it and we do not acknowledge it.”
He opened his remarks, stating: “As is known, the United Nations was founded by three or four countries against Germany at the time. The United Nations was formed by the nations that joined together against Germany in the Second World War. Those countries formed a body called the Security Council, made its own countries permanent members and granted them the power of veto.”
Col. Gadhafi continued that if, “one reads the Charter of the United Nations, one finds that the Preamble of the Charter differs from its Articles. How did it come into existence?
All those who attended the San Francisco Conference in 1945 participated in creating the Preamble, but they left the Articles and internal rules of procedures of the so-called Security Council to experts, specialists and interested countries, which were those countries that had established the Security Council and had united against Germany.”
During his talk Col. Gadhafi said, “Veto power should be annulled.”
He continued, “The Security Council did not provide us with security but with terror and sanctions,” he told leaders gathered for the opening of the 192-nation General Assembly, according to the transcript of the speech published on africanews.com. “The Preamble is very appealing, and no one objects to it.
But all the provisions that follow it completely contradict the Preamble. We reject such provisions, and we will never uphold them; they ended with the Second World War. The Preamble says that all nations, small or large, are equal. Are we equal when it comes to the permanent seats? No, we are not equal,” he said.
“The Preamble states in writing that all nations are equal whether they are small or large. Do we have the right of veto? Are we equal? The Preamble says that we have equal rights, whether we are large or small. That is what is stated and what we agreed in the Preamble. So, the veto contradicts the Charter. The permanent seats contradict the Charter. We neither accept nor recognize the veto.”
Col. Gadhafi who spoke just after then-President U.S. President Barack Obama, also said the only country that was democratically elected to the Security Council was China. He said the other seats held by the other countries were “imposed upon us undemocratically through a dictatorial procedure carried out against our will, and we should not accept it.”
Col. Gadhafi was correct. Veto power by the five permanent members of the Security Council has rendered the United Nations ineffective. A case in point is “forever wars.” The U.S. and Russia have used their veto power to nullify any recommendations for ending ongoing and increasing conflicts in Gaza, the West Bank, Iran and Ukraine.
A new member state cannot receive permanent membership or veto status in the UN Security Council without a formal amendment to the United Nations Charter. According to the Carnegieendowment.org,
“Because changing the Security Council’s composition requires the explicit consent of every current permanent member, any single existing P5 nation can block the entire expansion by refusing to ratify the change. This gives the current permanent members absolute control over whether any new country can join their ranks with equal veto power.”
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