During President Sisi’s New York trip, he presided over a summit organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to raise support for the Egyptian bid as a representative of North Africa for 2016/2017.
Egypt’s decision to run for a seat in the Security Council comes in the context of its commitment to expanding its efforts in maintaining world peace. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry declared during a visit to the UN, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported in April. Egypt plans on furthering the interests of developing and third world nations, he said, specifically working on reforming the UN and expanding the Security Council to become more democratic and representative of developing countries and their interests.
Egypt is preparing to enter the Security Council elections on October 15. According to UN protocol, even if candidates are running unopposed, formal balloting must still take place.
Egypt is running for the Northern Africa seat, and will also fill the Arab swing seat, which alternates every odd calendar year between the Asia-Pacific Group and the African Group.
The Arab swing seat is currently held by Jordan, whose term will expire at the end of 2015. Jordan took the seat after Saudi Arabia was elected, but refused to enter the Security Council in protest at the council’s inability to take action against the Syrian regime, as well as its failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict over the years.
On the basis of an informal agreement, of which there are no known records, one seat is reserved for an Arab state that alternates between the Asian and African group and is known as the Arab swing seat. There was no Arab state on the council in 1967, coinciding with the Six Day War, and since 1968, there has always been Arab representation on the council.
In addition to five permanent members — France, UK, USA, Russia, and China — who have the right of veto, the Security Council consists of 10 non-permanent members representing five regional blocs for a period of two years. Every year, the UN General Assembly votes on five non-permanent seats during its annual meeting in October. The 10 non-permanent members need to receive two-thirds of the votes in the general assembly, in order to gain a seat in the Security Council.
Egypt’s occupying of the seat will confirm international recognition of the current regime, which is an important acknowledgment at the current period, says Kadry Hefny, professor of political psychology at Ain Shams University, and founder of the Israeli Studies Department at the Middle East Studies Center.
But Mohamed Al-Menshawy, head of Al-Shorouk newspaper’s office in Washington, has his doubts regarding the extent to which Egypt’s membership in the council is able to benefit its interests, due to the existing internal instability. Menshawy argues that Egyptian foreign policy cannot be separated from internal developments. Menshawy is doubtful that a country facing significant political, economic and security challenges can play a prominent regional or international role.
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In the past few months, Egypt increased its efforts to enter the council. Besides the summit, Egypt has exchanged support with a number of states, as well as receiving support from the African Union and the Arab league, which it will represent in the Security Council. The Foreign Ministry also published a booklet that is distributed to ministers and ambassadors of other countries. The booklet focuses on the different Egyptian initiatives and efforts with various international organizations to preserve world peace. In addition, a diplomatic team was formed in New York to focus on the campaign.
Moreover, Sisi had visited the UN last September in its 69th general assembly, during which he invited all members to support Egypt’s campaign. Since then, Sisi has visited 14 different countries to discuss different common topics, as well as to request support for Egypt’s bid. The foreign minister also undertook a number visits to support the campaign.
Hisham Badr, assistant minister of International Institutions and Organizations, for instance, made comments linking the support Egypt is receiving for its bid with the country’s fight against terrorism to privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm in September.
Egypt’s presence in the council would give it greater influence in decision making, argues Mohamed Shaker, former assistant of the Egyptian permanent representative in the UN. This he says is mainly because the seat grants Egypt the power to voice its opinions and vote on decisions of the council, while those outside the council are only invited to join discussions that directly concern them and do not have the right to vote.
Although Egypt would have some rights by virtue of its occupying a seat in the Security Council, its power cannot be compared to the veto rights held by the council’s five permanent members, says Hefny. Egypt's former assistant foreign minister agrees with this assessment, suggesting that Egypt’s entry to the council will not influence its decision making.
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Egypt’s ability to influence the Security Council’s stance on regional disputes, notably Syria, will be rather limited, Menshawy suggests, due to the gridlock situation that prevails within the council. However, the Egyptian voting patterns on decisions concerning Syria will at least show whether Egypt will choose to side with the anti-Assad West, or whether it will align itself with the Chinese-Russian bloc in support of the regime.
On the Libyan crisis, Menshawy clarifies that this is also a thorny issue because of Western opposition to the Egyptian stance against Islamist groups in Libya. Meanwhile, Marzouk says that in the Libyan case, Egypt’s role outside the Security Council is much more important, mainly through cooperating with the Libyan government, North African governments and the Arab League.
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http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/egypt-security-council-lot-effort-uncontested-seat