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STATEMENT BY

H.E. MR. AHMAD FAISAL MUHAMAD

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 

AT THE 74TH PLENARY MEETING OF THE 78^TH SESSION OF THE

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

AGENDA ITEM 63: USE OF THE VETO

 

 

Mr. President,

 

My delegation thanks you for convening today’s plenary meeting following the veto cast by a permanent member of the Security Council during its meeting on 18 April 2024 under the agenda item “Admission of new members”.

 

2. Malaysia deeply regrets that the exercise of the veto by a permanent member prevented the Council from recommending the State of Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations. As we have stated in our statement at the quarterly Security Council open debate last week, the admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of this organisation would have been, without any doubt, the right thing to do. Unfortunately, the Council failed to seize the opportunity to help the Palestinian people fulfil their right to self-determination, a right clearly enshrined in the UN Charter.

 

Mr. President,

 

3. Malaysia firmly believes that the State of Palestine meets the four criteria for statehood outlined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention, and the conditions laid out in Article 4 of the UN Charter.

 

4. Palestine has demonstrated, time and again, that it is committed to peace, even in the face of a brutal and oppressive occupation by Israel. Palestine has also demonstrated that it is able and willing to carry out obligations enshrined in the Charter. Moreover, Palestine has proven itself worthy of membership of this organisation, through its active participation at all UN platforms.

 

5. As such, assertions that the State of Palestine does not meet all the criteria set forth in Article 4 are ludicrous, and nothing more than deliberate efforts to deny the State of Palestine this long-overdue recognition. Such assertions are also a rejection of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions that recognise Palestine as a State, and a clear denial of long-awaited justice.

 

6. The admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of this organisation should have happened a long time ago, when General Assembly Resolution 181(II) was adopted and Israel was admitted 75 years ago. 140 members of the United Nations have recognised the State of Palestine, and many more will be doing so in the very near future. It is imperative that this grave injustice be righted without further delay, especially as Israel is actively eroding the prospects of a sovereign Palestinian state through its barbaric aggression in Gaza and intensifying expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

 

Mr. President,

 

7.  The veto and its undemocratic nature, runs against the very principles that the United Nations was built upon. It has no place in a modern and democratic multilateral architecture. Malaysia maintains its position that the exercise of the veto by permanent members of the Security Council should be regulated to deter it from being used unjustifiably or abused. Its application must be prohibited in situations involving mass atrocity crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes. We are also of the view that to be effective and more accountable, the veto should be exercised by at least two of the five permanent members, and supported by three non-permanent members of the Council. Then, it must be supported by the General Assembly with a simple majority vote. However, we maintain that ultimately, the veto must be abolished altogether. Malaysia will continue to work constructively with other Member States through the Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Security Council reform, towards improving the United Nations to make it more efficient, transparent, inclusive, trusted and effective.

 

I thank you.