On January 12, the United Nations rescinded the right to vote to eight countries, including Iran, Venezuela, and Sudan. The reason why the UN cancelled their right to vote was due to their unpaid dues.
A letter released by the UN (United Nations) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the General Assembly announced the suspension of rights to 11 countries.
The other nations include Antigua and Barbuda, the Republic of Congo, Guinea, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. According to the UN General Assembly of the United Nations, voting rights have been dumped in keeping Article 19 in the charter.
These nations will no longer have a right to speak in crucial matters in the 193-member General Assembly. The estimated payments that these nations are due and have to pay to the UN to get back their rights are $18,412,438 for Iran, $39,850,761 for Venezuela, and 299,044 for Sudan.
The rest of the five nations have to pay less than $75,000 to restore their voting rights in UN Assembly.
According to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‘ Letter, on January 12, in some possibilities, as the UN traced, the state of members get an exemption if they prove that their countries conditions are in control which may have, in turn, contributed to his incapacity to pay.
However, the UN also made a list of readjusted. The lowest payment is required to diminish the amounts owed by those Member States on their contributions to remain below the gross amount assessed for the preceding two full years, 2020 and 2021, respectively.
In some cases, as the UN outlined, the member states are given exemptions if they prove or show that the conditions in their respective countries are beyond control which may have, in turn, contributed to this inability to pay.
As the UN Assembly exercises the authority to decide “that the failure to pay due to their conditions beyond the member’s control.”
Three African countries on the list of nations in arrears, namely Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia, will still have a right to vote.
However, it is the second time that Iran has lost of right to vote. The first time was in January 2021 due to a devaluation in payments.
However, they get back their rights to vote in June 2021 after paying minimum dues.
