Maldives’ leader calls to abolish ‘paralyzing’ veto powers at UNSC

Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has called to abolish veto powers at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), powers that he said continues to paralyze the council from stopping Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people.

 He made the remark during his address on early Thursday at the UN Security Council’s open debate on ‘Leadership for Peace: United in Respect of the UN Charter, in Search of a Secure Future’, held on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.

President Muizzu’s address marked the first time for a Maldivian leader to address the UNSC, in the 59 years that the country has been a member of the UN.

In this historical address, President Muizzu said he felt it important to personally convey to the UNSC a message from the people.

“…about the immense responsibility that the council holds in maintaining global peace and security.…about the immense hope with which that the people of the world look up to the council…and about the immense failure of this council in giving hope to the hopeless, and salvation to the suffering.,” he said.

President Muizzu said that global mistrust in the multilateral system continues to grow, largely because of the ineffectiveness and inaction of the council.

“We sit here today while a genocide unfolds under the nose of a Security Council unwilling to uphold international law and put an end to it,” he said.

He noted that in November last year, 36 UN special rapporteurs and experts referred to “a genocide in the making” in Gaza. And in July of this year, the International Court of Justice, found that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, that Israel must evacuate settlements and pay reparations to Palestinians.

He stressed that members of the UNSC are expected to work to enforce findings by the UN’s own principal judicial organ.

He urged the council to listen to its own voices.

“It was member states of this council who established the principles, institutions and architecture of a rules-based order… A world order based on justice,” he said.

He said that this architecture is now crumbling under the rubble of destroyed homes, hospitals and schools.

“Disintegrating under the weight of the bodies of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon… An architecture decaying, stained with the blood of those whose very existence is supposed to be a symbol of a civilized world order from aid workers, to UN staff, to journalists.”

“Powerful members of this council, do you really want to undermine the foundations of global order that you have built?”

President Muizzu said that the declining trust in the UNSC is rooted in the lack of equal representation, accountability, and transparency.

He said that the council cannot expect democracy and accountability in UN member states, without practicing the same in the council.

He said that the solution is clear – abolishing veto powers.

“We must abolish the veto. The veto continues to paralyze the council from stopping Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. The veto has allowed Israel to continue with impunity, in practicing brutal occupation and risking regional security. The veto continues to enable the massacre of innocent people. So, let us ‘kill’ the veto,” he said.

President Muizzu said that the Maldives has always placed its faith in the multilateral system and the UN. He said that the Maldives is not questioning the value of the UN.

“But because the Security Council “acts on our behalf”, and we are obliged to “accept and carry out” decisions by the council, we have a right to question its work, and its methods,” he said.

“We deserve better than empty rhetoric and half-hearted gestures. We demand better.”

UNSC veto power is the power of the five permanent members of the council - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - to veto any decision other than a "procedural" decision.

The US has vetoed all UNSC resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel’s current war on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children. It has now expanded its bombardments to neighboring Lebanon, killing over 500 people.