Canada drops UN council bid; Germany, India win

Canada withdrew on Tuesday from the race for a seat on the prestigious UN Security Council, conceding victory to Portugal in the annual election in the General Assembly.

Earlier on Tuesday, the 192-nation assembly elected Germany, India, South Africa and Colombia to two-year seats on the UN Security Council, while Canada and Portugal moved on to a second round of voting.

After the votes for Canada dropped from 114 in the first round of secret ballots to 78 in the second round, Canadian UN Ambassador John McNee announced that his country would withdraw, enabling Portugal to win in an uncontested third round.

Portugal will join the other four newly elected nations and serve a two-year term beginning in January 2011 and ending in December 2012. It will be a non-veto-holding member of the 15-nation body, the powerhouse of the United Nations with the authority to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces.

Canada has served six terms on the council and never lost a bid for a seat in the past. This will be Portugal's third time on the Security Council.

In the first round of voting, only Germany managed to cross the 127-vote threshold in the category known as "Western Europe and Others," getting 128 votes. India, South Africa and Colombia were all uncontested in their respective geographic groups.

There are five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, the victors of World War Two -- and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes.

But the elected members have some power because a council resolution needs nine votes in favor as well as no vetoes.

The five rotating members serving on the council until the end of 2011 are Bosnia, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria. The five nations leaving the council at the end of this year are Austria, Turkey, Mexico, Japan and Uganda.

Germany is one of the top contributors to the United Nations and one of several countries, along with India, Japan and Brazil, which are considered prime candidates for permanent seats on the council if UN member states can ever agree on a formula for expanding it.

Over a decade of talks on a possible expansion of the Security Council to better reflect the nature of the world have failed to yield a consensus.

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