SEA/1525

COUNCIL OF INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY CONTINUES NEGOTIATIONS TO SELECT PRESIDENT

KINGSTON, 12 August -- The Council of the International Seabed Authority this morning urged its President pro tem, Hasjim Djalal (Indonesia), to continue his informal consultations on the selection of the President of the Council, while holding out the possibility that the President would have to be chosen by a vote.

Two candidates have been nominated for the presidency of the Council, one from the Western European and Others Group, and another from the Latin American and Caribbean Group. Reporting on his consultations so far, Mr. Djalal said the two groups had continued to maintain their nominations. A number of suggestions had been put forward, without success.

Also this morning, the Council heard a report from the Chairman of its working group on the draft rules of procedure of the Council, Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia). The working group was authorized to continue its drafting exercise.

By a draft decision, the Council also authorized the Secretary-General of the Authority, Satya Nandan (Fiji), to enter into negotiations with the United Nations on a relationship agreement between the two organizations. The draft agreement, once negotiated, would be subject to approval by the Assembly of the Authority and the General Assembly of the United Nations.

On another matter, Mr. Djalal informed the Council that 18 candidates had been nominated for election to the 15-member Legal and Technical Commission, which will make recommendations on applications to mine and carry out research on the international seabed.

During discussions on the selection of the Council's President, the representative of Nigeria said the entire disposition of the Authority's principal elective posts should follow a pattern of equitable geographical distribution. If that principle was followed, it would be easier to find a solution to the problems of choosing candidates.

- 2 - Press Release SEA/1525 13 August 1996

The representative of Bangladesh said the President should be elected for a one-year period and the position rotated among the regional groups.

The representative of Australia said the Western European and Other States believed it was imperative that the Council select a President as soon as possible. The election of a pro tem President would only be a recipe for further delaying the Council's work.

The representatives of Namibia, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Cameroon and Argentina also spoke.

The second part of the Authority's second session, which began on Monday, 5 August, is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 16 August.

The Convention on the Law of the Sea set up the Authority to administer the resources of the deep seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The two main organs of the Authority are the Assembly, whose membership consists of all paries to the Convention, as well as all those States which have agreed to the provisional application of the 1994 Agreement on the implementation of the deep seabed mining provisions of the Convention. The other main organ is the Council, which consists of 36 members elected by the Assembly.

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United Nations