(Eds: Updating with fresh inputs and background)By Lalit K JhaWashington, Nov 14 (PTI) The battle between India'snominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwoodfor a seat in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hasremained deadlocked as neither candidate managed to get therequisite numbers of votes in the latest face-off.
Bhandari, 70, and Greenwood are seeking re-election atthe Hague-based International Court of Justice.
One-third of the court's 15-member bench are electedevery three years for a nine-year term, elections for whichare held separately but simultaneously in the United NationsGeneral Assembly and Security Council in New York.
Last Thursday, four of the six candidates in the fraywere elected as per the UN laws, got absolute majority in boththe General Assembly and the Security Council.
Ronny Abraham of France, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf ofSomalia, Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil and NawafSalam of Lebanon were elected after four rounds of electionson Thursday.
Yesterday, the UN General Assembly and the SecurityCouncil met separately to elect the remaining one candidatefor the ICJ.
In each of the five rounds of elections, Greenwood ofBritain received nine votes and Bhandari got five in the UNSecurity Council. The winner must secure 8 votes in theSecurity Council.
Given that Britain is a Permanent member of the SecurityCouncil, Greenwood has an advantage over Bhandari.
Bhandari received absolute majority in the GeneralAssembly elections in all the five rounds. In fact, heincreased his vote tally from Thursday's 115 to 121 votes inthe General Assembly elections yesterday against the absolutemajority number of 97.
The vote tally of Greenwood dropped from 76 to 68 onMonday.
Both the General Assembly and Security Council announcedto adjourn the meeting for the election to be convened at alater date.
Ahead of the yesterday's voting, Congress leader andformer top UN official Shashi Tharoor said that the "voice ofthe General Assembly" has been ignored for too long.
He accused the "UK of trying to stall the will of themajority of the UN General Assembly".
"As the UN Security Council (SC) & General Assembly (GA)vote to choose a judge for the International Court Of Justice(#ICJ) between Indian & UK candidates, the legitimacy &effectiveness of the UN are at stake. The voice of the GA hasbeen ignored too long," he said in a tweet.
"This time a nominee of a Permanent member of the SC hasfailed to get an absolute majority of the GA, for the firsttime in a direct contest to a major @UN organ. GA vote hasturned into a protest against an unwarranted extension ofprivilege for 70+ years. P5 lost by 40votes!" he said.
Tharoor said the election is no longer about the judge orthe country he hails from, but about the General Assemblystanding up against a member of a privileged club who has lostcomprehensively among the Members at large but still leads 9-6in the Security Council.
"The UK is trying to stall the will of the majority ofthe GA," he charged.
"Deeply entrenched interests of a tiny select groupcannot be allowed to prevail in areas where such privilegesare not based in law. Judges to the World Court must representthe majority of the UN membership. The cosy Permanent Membersclub at the SC cannot keep getting its way," he said.
Decisions at the UN, he said, must reflect the voice of the majority of Members and cannot continue to be decided by afew states with long-held privileges.
Noting that this is not about India or any singlecountry, he said this is about the idea of justice, ofequality and fairness.
"It is about the future we envisage for the UnitedNations and the conduct of multilateralism. The time forreform is now. I call on SC members to vote for India'scandidate," he said.
"Aside from these points of principle, India has alwaysshouldered collective responsibilities with our partners inour quest for a more just global order, Our ethos also leadsus towards genuine and constructive rule-based multilateralismand peaceful settlement of disputes. Vote4 India!” Tharoorsaid. PTI LKJ AJRNSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.