Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the election of Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Peter Thomson, to be President of the UN General Assembly is a great honour for Fiji.
Bainimarama says it is the first time a representative of one of the Pacific Small Island Developing States has been chosen to lead the United Nations General Assembly and it has given Fiji and the other island nations a new and stronger voice in New York.
The Prime Minister says Thomson’s selection provides us with a unique platform to highlight issues of critical concern to Fiji and the vulnerable economies, such as building our resilience to climate change and ensuring the sustainable development of our natural resources on land and at sea.
Bainimarama says it is a measure of Fiji’s standing in the world that the majority of nations supported Fiji’s candidacy and he warmly thanks those countries that voted for Fiji for the confidence they have placed in the country.
He says Fiji’s commitment to the United Nations and its ideals has been unwavering ever since we first joined the UN at Independence in 1970.
Bainimarama says we have always made a disproportionate contribution to the UN’s activities for a country of our size, especially with our strong participation in UN Peacekeeping operations since 1978.
He congratulates Thomson on behalf of every Fijian.
Congratulations Ambassador winning votes at the UN 94-90 to be now the 71st President of the UN General Assembly.. pic.twitter.com/AeX8qpFnlI
— Frank Bainimarama (@bainimara2) June 13, 2016
Ambassador Thomson’s candidacy was put forward by Fiji and eleven other Pacific Small Island Developing States at the UN.
He was in a two‑way contest with Andreas Mavroyiannis of Cyprus.
All 193 Member States of the United Nations were eligible to participate in the simple‑majority, secret‑ballot election, with the candidate from Cyprus receiving 90 votes and Ambassador Thomson receiving 94 votes.
After the election, Ambassador Thomson expressed his deep appreciation to those who had given their support in today's ballot and thanked the Government of Fiji and the Pacific Small Island Developing States for putting his name forward for the Presidency.
He gave special thanks to the hundreds of Fijians serving in the blue berets of UN peacekeeping in the world's trouble‑spots.
