Constance Ikokwu
25 September 2008
New York — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has advocated an enlarged G-8 club of industrialised nations that will include South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, India and China and a reform of the Security Council to reflect a changing world.
He did not mention Nigeria, although the country has in the past participated in G-8 meetings. Nigeria has also shown interest in the Security Council.
Sarkozy spoke yesterday at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, on behalf of France and the European Union (EU), whose rotating presidency his country currently holds.
According to him, reforming the Security Council and enlarging the G-8 into the G-13 or G-14 is a matter of fairness in an increasingly globalised world.
He said: "Enlarging the Security Council and the G-8 (block of industrialised nations) is not just a matter of fairness; it is also a necessary condition for being able to act effectively.
"We cannot wait any longer to enlarge the Security Council. We cannot wait any longer to turn the G-8 into G-13 or G-14 and to bring in China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil."
The French president observed that international institutions must be more coherent, strong, respected and representative of our world today.
This would enable them to manage effectively the problems facing the global community such as the global financial market crisis, he stated...ments to meet before the end of the year to examine the lessons of the most serious financial crisis the world had experienced since 1930s.
They also have a duty to act in respect of the conflict in Darfur, terrorism and climate change, he added.
The world is facing the consequences of waiting too long to act on these major issues, he said. Sarkozy stated that the world needs institutions to regulate it in the face of globalisation.
"And we can wait no longer. We are beginning to gauge the tragic consequences of having already waited too long. We have retreated too long when faced with the need to give the globalised world the institutions that will regulate it. We can wait no longer," said the French President.
The UN General Assembly had earlier this year reached a decision to begin intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform in informal plenary by February next year.
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