India, Japan, Germany and France were among 18 nations elected by the United Nations General Assembly to serve on the 54-member Economic and Social Council (E.C.O.S.O.C.) for a period of three years, beginning January 1, next year.
Cote d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Estonia, Greece, Lichtenstein, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela were the other elected countries.
The 18 outgoing members were Angola, Austria, Benin, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Japan, Lichtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritania, Paraguay, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
Ahead of the election, the Assembly approved a request from Iceland to relinquish its Council seat for the Group of Western European and Other States at the end of 2008, for the remainder of its term in favour of Norway. Norway was then elected to the Council for a one-year term of office beginning
January 1, next year.
As of January 1, the remaining members of the Council will be Algeria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Britain Canada, Cameroon, Cape Verde, China, Congo, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia,
Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Somalia, Sudan, Sweden, United States and Uruguay.
Eighteen of the 54 members of the Council retire each year and the retiring members are eligible for re-election.
India, Saudi Arabia and Japan were elected from the Asian group. Of the 184 valid votes polled, Saudi Arabia got 180, India 179 and Japan 177. There were no other candidates from the group.