General Assembly: 37th plenary meetings, 80th session

The 37th-- no, no, no, stay, please. The new meeting will begin. The 37th plenary meeting of the General Assembly is called to order for the purpose of continuing with the election of a member of the International Court of Justice. As members are aware, there's still one vacancy on the court to be filled. The Assembly will now proceed to vote in respect to the vacancy. Once again, I should like to remind representatives that pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of Procedure, after the President has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. Capo Verde is asking for the floor. It was a mistake, sorry. Well, but it's good that everybody is awake. So remember the rules. I should like to remind representatives that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure, after the President has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. Any announcements, including those concerning withdrawals of candidature, should therefore be made prior to the commencement of the voting process. That is to say, before the announcement of the beginning of the voting process. Now, Nigeria has asked for the floor.

Thank you, Madam President, for giving me the floor. Having come this far on this election and for purposes of having clear outcomes, the Nigerian candidates is here by stepping down to enable the Assembly proceed appropriately to elect the candidate of the choice of the General Assembly. Thank you, Madam President.

I thank the distinguished representative of Nigeria. We have just heard a statement by the representative of Nigeria informing of the decision to withdraw the candidature of Dawood Olofinmi Elias from the current election. May I take it that all the national groups that nominated Mr. Elias of Nigeria have no objections? I see no objection. Tauheed Olufemi Elias, Nigeria, is therefore no longer a candidate and his name will not appear on the ballot papers. In order to prepare correct ballot papers, I now again suspend the meeting for 15 minutes to inform the President of the Security Council of the withdrawal and to allow time for the Secretariat to prepare new ballot papers. The meeting is suspended for only 15 minutes. The plenary meeting is resumed. We shall now begin the voting process. Ballot papers will be now distributed. Ballot papers will only be given to the delegate seated directly behind the country's nameplate. Representatives are requested to use only the ballot papers that are now being distributed. Only the candidates whose names appear on the ballot papers are eligible. Representatives will indicate the one candidate for whom they wish to vote by placing a cross at the left of the name on the ballot paper. Ballot papers on which more than one name is checked will be considered invalid. If a ballot paper contains any notation other than a vote in favor of the eligible candidates, those notations will be disregarded. If a mistake is made in filling out the ballot paper, delegation should request a new ballot paper from the secretariat at the front of the hall. I again invite the representative of the following states to act as tellers and to accompany the conference officers as they are collect the ballot papers. Azerbaijan, Brazil, Mauritania, Mongolia, Portugal, and Rwanda. Please proceed to collect the ballot papers.

Are they still Parrot.

As we are getting the last vote, may I request delegation who may not have voted to do so now by approaching the podium to cast their votes. The voting is now closed. No more ballot papers will be accepted. Our kind tellers and conference officers are trying to count very quickly. I therefore suspend the meeting for 15 minutes and we'll see you in 15 minutes again. Thank you for being on time. The plenary meeting is resumed. The result of the voting is as follows. Number of ballot papers, 188. Number of invalid ballots, 1. Number of valid ballots, 187. Abstentions, 2. Number of members present and voting, 185. Absolute majority 97. Number of individual votes obtained: Phoebe Okowa, Kenya, 106 votes. Charles Cherno Jallow, Sierra Leone, 79 votes. Phoebe Okoi of Kenya has obtained an absolute majority in the Assembly. I have communicated the result of the vote to the President of the Security Council. I have received from the President of the Security Council the following letter: Excellency, I have the honor to inform you that at the 10,040th meeting of the Security Council held on November 12, 2025, for the purpose of electing a member of the International Court of Justice to fill the seat that became vacant on September 30, 2025, Ms. Phoebe Okowa, Kenya, obtained an absolute majority of votes in the Security Council. Accept Excellencies for new assurances of my highest consideration. President of the Security Council, Michael Imran Kanu. As a result of the independent voting in the Assembly and the Council, Phoebe Okowa of Kenya has obtained an absolute majority in both organs. Phoebe Okowa of Kenya is therefore duly elected a member of the International Court of Justice to serve for a term of office commencing today, 12 November 2025, and ending on 5 February 2027. I take this opportunity to extend to her the congratulations of the Assembly on this election and to thank the tellers for their assistance. Madame Fourey-Aucouit, congratulations from the General Assembly on your new position. May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of sub-item C of agenda item 113. I thank you for the very cooperative session. It is so decided. I wish you all a good afternoon. The meeting is adjourned.