By Oyintari Ben
The United Nations General Assembly has rejected proposals by the military juntas of Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Libya to occupy their respective nations’ seats in the organization.
With a boom of the gavel from assembly president Csaba Krösi, the 193-member world body agreed unanimously to accept the proposal of its Credentials Committee that the requests be postponed.
The ruling implies that Kyaw Moe Tun, who served as Myanmar’s ambassador when the military removed civil leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, will continue to represent Myanmar at the UN.
The former administration of Afghanistan, which was overthrown by the Taliban in August 2021 and was presided over by President Ashraf Ghani, will continue to hold the country’s seat. Taher Elsonni, the ambassador for Libya, who represents the administration stationed in Tripoli, the country’s westernmost capital, will continue to serve in that capacity.
The credentials committee’s report was presented before the vote by Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, the ambassador to the United Nations for Guyana, citing opposition communications from Libya, Afghanistan, and Myanmar that sought to represent their nations.
According to her, “the committee agreed to postpone its assessment of the credentials belonging to the representatives of Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Libya” to a later point in the current 77th session of the General Assembly, which concludes in September, next year.
Following that, Krösi gaveled the resolution approving the committee’s report.
