Sixth Committee (Legal) — 70th session

Observer status for the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in the General Assembly (Agenda item 173)

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Documentation

Summary of work

Background (source: A/70/200)

By the letter dated 11 August 2015 (A/70/194) addressed to the Secretary-General, the representatives of Australia, Cambodia, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the seventieth session.

Consideration at the seventieth session

The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 11th and 24th meetings, on 19 October and 10 November 2015 (see A/C.6/70/SR.11 and 24).

At the 11th meeting, on 19 October, the representative of Cambodia, on behalf of Australia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/70/L.3). Under this draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer; and request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution.

Statements were made by the representatives of Cambodia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Argentina, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Japan.

Some delegations supported the request for observer status of the ICAPP. It was observed that ICAPP complied with the requirements stipulated in Assembly decision 49/426.A point was made that ICAPP could be characterized and was increasingly recognized as a quasi-intergovernmental organization being a network of political parties virtually identified as Governments in their countries, which was starkly different from other non-governmental organisations. It was noted that the members of ICAPP belonged to different parties and were Government officials, members of parliament or the Cabinet, and hence, ICAPP could satisfy the criterion of having an intergovernmental character. It was emphasized that ICAPP was committed to upholding the Charter of the United Nations and its founding principles, as stated in the preamble to its Charter and evident in its different activities. Moreover, the engagement of political parties was indispensable in ensuring the success of the 2030 Development Agenda, which explicitly referred to the role of national parliaments.

Some other delegations expressed appreciation for the importance of ICAPP in the international political community. As noted at previous sessions, those delegations stated that ICAPP still did not fulfil the requirements set out in General Assembly decision 49/426. The point was made that NGOs should apply for consultative status with ECOSOC.  A recently signed intergovernmental MOU did not change this situation. Accordingly, reservations to granting observer status to ICAPP were expressed.

Action taken by the Sixth Committee

At the 24th meeting, on 10 November, the Vice-Chair of the Committee announced that the Bureau had been informed by the delegation of Cambodia (also on behalf of co-sponsors) that, following consultations with interested delegations, the sponsors had proposed to defer a decision on the request for observer status for the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in the General Assembly to the seventy-first session of the Assembly.

At the same meeting, the Committee adopted, without a vote, a draft decision under which the General Assembly would decide to defer a decision on the request for observer status for the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in the General Assembly to the seventy-first session of the Assembly.

Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly

This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-first session (2016).

 

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