International outrage against UN for revoking Bahrain's voting rights

International outrage has soared against the United Nations for depriving a number of countries, including Bahrain of voting rights following their failure to pay membership charge.

The General Assembly has been informed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that due to an inability to pay the required sum, the countries on the list will be able to take part in voting only on extraordinary occasions, AP reported.

The countries affected by the decision, apart from Bahrain, include the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Burundi, Venezuela, Libya, Mali, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

Mr Ki-moon has noted that an exception can be made for a state “if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member.”

Thus five poor and war-torn countries – Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and Yemen – will still have a vote until the end of the current UN session which comes in September, a resolution passed in the UN stated.

Ban’s letter initially also featured Iran which until very recently has been under UN sanctions over its nuclear program. However, Iran has been excluded from the list since it “just paid”, restoring its ability to vote, assembly spokesman Daniel Thomas said.

The letter also provides information on the sum of money that a country has to pay to recover its voting rights. The sizes of debts tend to differ from $3 million to $1,360.

The loss of voting rights might be most painful for Venezuela, a major oil producer, which is set to preside over the UN Security Council after Uruguay is relieved from the duties.

Venezuela has suffered a significant blow due to the recent collapse in the price of oil with its economy shrinking 10 percent and inflation hitting 159 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Unlike Venezuela, Bahrain’s economy is more diversified, but still almost 70 percent of it depends on oil sales revenue. Last week the government raised gas prices for the first time in 33 years.

Scores of comments from people around the world lashed against the decision calling it “outrageous” and “unfair”. NOB has complied a few for the benefit of our readers.

“A vote, let alone tens of votes, has serious consequence for the world. So members should not be deprived of their vote because of arrears.”

“The term "Voting Rights" as used by UN is a misnomer because rights are inherent and should not be stripped for any reasons especially monetary ones.”

“The UN should ban the US and the UK for their illegal wars in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria. This is a serious offence and goes against what the UN stands for. So Ban must act firmly and impartially. Rather bow to the dictates of powerful nations eithin the UN. Or lose credibility.”

“Does the UN not take into account of the situation, eg, Venezuela? The slide in oil price and other external factors have resulted in the difficulties, as will be faced by other countries this year and next. Voting right should not be tied to arrears, especially when it is first time or has justifiable reasons.”

“If this policy is carried through, then the UN may find that there are many members who may find themselves in that situation. Anything could happen as had happened with the 2008 financial crisis of an international scale.”

“Laughable, why should anyone have to pay a fee to join the UN? Ridiculous. All counties should be part of the UN and have a vote, or the UN is pointless and should be dissolved. Let's face it, the UN is not what it pretends to be and should be dissolved anyway.” 

One of the main criterion that determines the size of the UN membership charge for a particular country is its financial capacity. The rates are reconsidered every three years in accordance with the latest data on the countries’ revenues.

 The annual charge must not exceed 22 percent of a country’s budget, the General Assembly stated in 2000. Thus, the US, the largest UN donor, accounts for 22 percent of the UN, Germany – for 7.1 percent while France goes with 5.6 percent. Russia contributes around 2.4-2.5 percent to the UN regular budget as of 2014.