Putrajaya, Sept 12: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said the United Nations has no "political will" to institute changes to better represent its members. On what the UN should be doing to address its weaknesses, Mahathir said, "We know what they should be doing. The question is whether they want to do it. There is no political will to do anything."
"While the rest of the world was told to become more democratic, the truth was that the most advanced countries were not democratic in matters pertaining to international affairs," he said on Wednesday. Mahathir was asked to comment on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement which slammed the 15-member Security Council as being "undemocratic", saying that the body reflected an outdated world power structure.
On whether he expected any changes in the UN structure, Mahathir said, "I do not foresee any changes." "I envisage that they (world power) will again sideline the UN because we have granted them veto power. But they themselves do not honour their veto power. So, there's no longer any significance," he said.
Asked whether the veto power should be abolished, Mahathir said that perhaps the powerful countries would be reluctant to accept this idea but at least the system should be modified. Bureau Report