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In 7 tweets, Shashi Tharoor slams UK over ICJ election; calls for reform at UN
14/November/2017

Shashi Tharoor, now Congress MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram and former United Nations diplomat, called out the United Kingdom, accusing the country -- a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council -- of stalling the will of the majority of General Assembly with reference the election of India's nominee Justice Dalveer Bhandari as the judge of the International Court of Justice. 

Bhandari is facing off against Christopher Greenwood, who is the United Kingdom's candidate for the world court.

As per the laid down UN policy, a candidate should secure a majority of 97 votes in the General Assembly and a majority of eight votes in the Security Council to be elected as the judge of the ICJ, said a report in The Indian Express. Since India is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council and UK is, it is easy for UK to influence the choice of the candidate. And, that's exactly what happened on Friday. 

In seven tweets, Shashi Tharoor called for a reform in the UN policy regarding the election of the judge of the ICJ. Saying the voice of the General Assembly has been ignored for long, Tharoor, in his first tweet, said, "As the UN Security Council and General Assembly vote to choose a judge for the International Court of Justice between Indian and UK candidates, the legitimacy and defectiveness of the UN are at stake."

Hitting out against the United Kingdom, Shashi Tharoor, in his second tweet, said, "GA vote turned into a protest against an unwarranted extension of privilege of 70 plus years," explaining how the United Kingdom, a permanent SC member, failed to get an absolute majority of the GA.
 

 

In his third tweet, Shashi Tharoor accused UK of stalling the will of the majority of the General Assembly by putting into play its 'privilege'. He said, "The election is no longer about the judge or the country he hails from but about the GA standing up against a member of a privileged club who has lost comprehensively among the Members at large but still needs 9-6 in the Security Council."
 

 

Tharoor, who once served in the United Nations, went on to say there are "deeply entrenched interests" of a "tiny select group" at play at the world boy and that cannot be allowed to "prevail in areas where such privileges are not based in law".

 

The majority of the members' views must be reflected in the decision that are taken at the UN, Tharoor went on to say, adding, "Only that kind of  multilateralism will inspire confidence among the international community, especially the younger generation."

 

 

In his sixth tweet, the Congress leader clarifies that his arguments are not just to advance Indian interests or that of any single country. "It is about the idea of justice, of equality & fairness. It is about the future we envisage for the United Nations & the conduct of multilateralism," he said as he called on the UN Security Council's members to vote for India's candidate in today's election at the International Court of Justice.
 

 

In his last tweet, Tharoor said that India has "always shouldered collective responsibilities w/(with) our partners in our quest for a more just global order..."

"Vote4 India!" Tharoor ended what he himself said was a "tweetstorm".

 



Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/shashi-tharoor-icj-election-united-nations-general-assembly-uk/1/