UNGA President: UNSC reform talks have not “begun in earnest.”

President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis claims that the talks to overhaul the UN Security Council have not “begun in earnest” and are now engaged in “informal discussions.”

He made reference to the Intergovernmental Negotiations process for changes on Tuesday when he stated, “Under the ambit of the IGN, what is taking place are informal discussions that predate the commencement of formal negotiations.”

“The member states themselves will determine the timing of the commencement of formal negotiations, but we are not yet there,” he said, declining to provide a time estimate for the talks.

During his press conference, Francis was questioned about if the failure of the reform process was directly related to the Security Council’s veto-ridden incapacity to handle the crises in Gaza and Ukraine.

The claim that the reform talks were a failure, in his opinion, “is not quite accurate because the IGN process has not failed.”

The process is led by the members. This is an organization run by its members. That decision (to enter into serious discussions) has not yet been taken. When they believe the time and circumstances are appropriate, they will, he said.

“Currently, there is a preliminary discussion that is introductory in nature, rather than negotiations regarding the various models that are under consideration for the reform process and the potential structure of the Security Council should a specific model be selected,” he said.

The fundamental structure of the Council is based on the five permanent members, which are the US, Britain, China, France, and Russia, with veto rights that represent the post-World War II situation.

The veto power has prevented the Council from acting on a number of crucial matters.

The bulk of Global South nations have insisted on being granted equal voice via an increase in the number of permanent members.

Adoption of a negotiating document that would establish the agenda and pinpoint the topics for debate to advance the reforms has been frequently advocated by India and a number of other nations.

However, a vocal group of countries headed by Italy and calling itself Uniting for Consensus has stopped it. Pakistan is one of these members.

They insist that there be no negotiation text until there is a consensus, which can only be reached by meaningful discussions based on a text, creating a Catch-22 situation.