UNITED NATIONS, September 13 -- The European Union had been so confident they would have consensus in the UN General Assembly on Monday for a resolution giving them special powers in the GA. As Inner City Press has reported, there are questions of why the African Union and Arab League would not get the same powers. The EU claimed it dealt with these bilaterally.
But once the item was called, the meeting was suspended for twenty minutes. Diplomats began to negotiate. Inner City Press set up on the green carpet in front of the GA and asked Permanent Representatives what was going on.
A Central African Perm Rep told Inner City Press that “the EU will have to come back tomorrow, and they won't be able to sponsor resolutions in the GA.”
The spokesman for a major European power scoffed when told this by Inner City Press. “We are only making a few small changes, so we can have consensus tomorrow.”
But an Asian Deputy Permanent Representative confirmed to Inner City Press the African view: the EU will have to work through member states in most instances.
The AU and Arab League have leverage: while the GA will reconvene on this Tuesday at 10 am, if it is not approved by 1 p.m., two further resolutions would be required: to extend the 64th GA, and to push back the beginning of the 65th. Unlikely, a well placed UN staffer told Inner City Press.
“What's good for the goose is good for the gander,” one African Permanent Representative told Inner City Press as the GA hall was being locked up. Ancient African proverb? Watch this site.
