Draft proposals for moving forward
During Thursday’s plenary meeting, Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina, current president of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), released two draft decisions: a draft calendar of activities and a draft list of possible working group chairs and special coordinators. However, he noted that the CD is “still not in a position to adopt those decisions.” He expressed optimism that the “minor outstanding details” could be resolved within the next few days or even hours. After this announcement, several delegations took the floor, including those of the United Kingdom, France, China, Brazil, the United States, the Russian Federation, Japan, Pakistan, Chile, and Australia.
Brief highlights
The current CD president released a draft calendar of activities, CD/1866, and a draft list of possible candidates to chair the working groups and act as special coordinators, CD/1867.
The delegations of Chile, France, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom voiced their support for both draft decisions.
Proposed working group chairs and special coordinators
In document CD/1867, the following officials are suggested:
1. Nuclear disarmament working group chair: Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani of Indonesia
Fissile materials treaty working group chair: Ambassador Jürg Streuli of Switzerland
PAROS working group chair: Ambassador Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares of Brazil
NSA working group chair: Ambassador Mykola Maimeskul of Ukraine
Radiological weapons coordinator: Ambassador Chitsaka Chipaziwa of Zimbabwe
Comprehensive programme of disarmament coordinator: Ambassador Mabel Gómez Olivier of Mexico
Transparency in armaments coordinator: Ambassador Hannu Himanen of Finland
Proposed schedule of activities
The draft schedule, CD/1866, has each of the working groups and special coordinator groups meeting once in the remaining week of the second part of the 2009 session. During the six weeks of the CD’s third part, 3 August–18 September, the schedule is very balanced in its time allotment to the four working groups, assigning four meetings to each working group and one meeting to each special coordinator group. The draft schedule allows for regular Tuesday and Thursday morning plenary meetings, regional and presidential meetings, and devotes three weeks to the consideration and adoption of the final report.
Responses to the draft decisions
Ambassador John Duncan of the United Kingdom reported that as long as the final versions of the two decisions are the same as the drafts circulated to the regional groups, his delegation is happy to support those proposals. Ambassador Eric Danon of France likewise announced his delegation’s “positive stand” with respect to the draft decisions and the Russian Federation’s representative said that the draft decisions, in their current form, reflect the goals of the Conference and thus his delegation is ready to support them.
Japan’s representative also announced that his delegation could support the president’s proposals. He reminded the Conference that member states are watched by “all people” and are expected to start actual work. Ambassador Carlos Portales of Chile noted that his delegation is pleased with the draft decisions and is able to work with them.
Some delegations were more equivocal about their positions. Ambassador Wang Qun of China said the two drafts provide a “very good basis” for moving forward, but explained that his delegation still needs time to study the draft decisions and come up with comments. He also sought clarification on the nature of CD/1866, asking if it falls within the framework of the implementation of CD/1864, the programme of work. The CD president assured him that it did, explaining that CD/1864 indicates the path to be followed: the first step consists in appointing working group chairs and special coordinators; once the CD has adopted that decision, the schedule of activities could be adopted.
Commenting on the draft decisions, Brazilian Deputy Representative Nelson Antonio Tabajara de Oliveira said the “question of time allotments is still on the table” and will be part of continuing deliberations, because all delegations “need to know how to pass through this programme of work in a pace that will be satisfactory to everyone.” Ambassador Garold Larson, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States, said his delegation looks forward to carrying the programme of work forward “with vigor and purpose as soon as possible” and looks forward to an early adoption of the draft decisions.
Pakistan’s Ambassador Zamir Akram described the draft decisions as being based on two key principles: equitable geographic distribution and balanced allocation of time for all four working groups. He said that his delegation will continue to constructively engage in the consultation process to reach consensus as early as possible. He also noted that the application of principle of rotation, though not applicable at this moment in time because of the small amount of time remaining in the CD’s 2009 session, will remain valid in future deliberations.
Australian Ambassador Caroline Millar noted that CD/1864, the programme of work, was adopted with relief, which behooves the Conference to move forward on these draft decisions. She noted that the proposals are well known to everyone and urged all delegations to seek positions on the drafts from their capitols as soon as possible so that the CD can move forward with its work.
After work has commenced
The current CD president, Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina, also noted that once the CD has begun work it will need to give thought to the issues of “continuity and predictability as well as the organizational capacity to prepare for our work in the appropriate time in the case of negotiations and in terms of the mandates of the discussions.” He expressed “hope that in the weeks to come we will be able to find the formula to address this matter within the provision of our Conference rules and procedures.”
Next meeting
The next plenary meeting is scheduled for Friday, 26 June 2009 at 10:00 AM.
- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF