UNCTAD-VII: G77 DECIDE TABLE THEIR PROPOSALS AS RESOLUTIONS.

Jul 31, 1987

UNCTAD-VII: G77 DECIDE TABLE THEIR PROPOSALS AS RESOLUTIONS.

GENEVA, JULY 29 (IFDA/CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN) – The Group of 77 decided Wednesday night, as a contingency step, to table their Havana proposals in the form of operative resolutions before the Conference.

The decision was taken even as discussions and negotiations in the two groups of the President’s contact Group, mandated to have a further go at evolving agreed texts, appeared to have got nowhere.

The Havana proposals have already been tabled by the group in each of the four Committees, and thus are before the plenary and the contact group of the president.

The decision now to table revised versions of these texts, with a simple operative chapeau, to enable the Conference to vote on them if necessary, was taken after more than five hours of internal group discussions.

While most members favoured such a course, there was opposition to the move from some within the Asian Group – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia and one or two others – who felt that this might "spoil the atmosphere".

Ultimately, the overwhelming view to table the proposals in the form of resolutions or decisions prevailed.

The Conference is due to end Friday, and under the rules any resolution or motion for adoption has to be circulated in all languages at least the previous day.

G77 sources said that while all the Havana proposals were being tabled as draft resolutions, the group will decide later, in the light of the outcome of negotiations in the President’s Contact Group, whether or not to press for a vote on all or any of the Havana proposals, or any variation of them.