Singapore called for the United Nations Security Council to be changed on Wednesday ( Sep 25 ), including limiting the five permanent member states ‘ right to exercise their veto.
Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan stated in a statement at the UN Security Council’s available debate on Wednesday that the universe is in “acutely harmful period” and that people in “multiple problem areas” are paying a terrible rate.
” The United Nations is at a turning point.  , We need to reform bilateral and UN organizations to tackle both current and future challenges, including transformation of this very Security Council”, he added.
Dr. Balakrishnan will be in New York for the 79th UN General Assembly period, which will take place on September 19 through September 28.
He urged the Security Council to” confine the exercise of the veto,” in a statement to the group.
Any of the five permanent members of the council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – can veto a solution.
” All continuous people should concentrate on the broader objective of delivering global peace and security,” he said.
” The tendency of the more frequent use of the vetoes suggests, however, that we cannot keep this up to the permanent five to voluntarily change their behavior,” he said.
The UN Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year conditions, in addition to the continuous five.
Now, they are  , Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Dr. Balakrishnan stated that Singapore” stands ready to discuss this more at the General Assembly” and that the UN as a whole has come to a consensus on “how the filibuster is exercised in the future.”
” The method is not to infringe on the agency’s authority, but to protect against activities that prevent this committee from fulfilling its mandate”, he added.
A Security Council resolution that would have called for charitable stops in the Israel-Hamas conflict was overruled by the US in October of last year. In April, it once more exercised its veto power to avert the Palestinian Authority’s total participation in the UN.
Russia and China voted against a US-led quality calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in March 2024.