UN General Assembly | Abdulla Shahid
Maldives Foreign Minister elected President of UN General Assembly
New York/IBNS: Abdulla Shahid, foreign minister of the Maldives, was elected the President of the 76th United Nations General Assembly with three-fourth majority, garnering 143 votesout of the 191 ballots cast.
The election for this post is held annually and each regional grouping takes turns to occupy this post.
The 76th session (2021-22) is the turn of the Asia-Pacific group.
For the first, Maldives will occupy the office of the President of the UN General Assembly.
According to media reports, Maldives had nominated Abdulla Shahid for the post in 2018.
A Hindustan Times report said Shahid is eminently qualified to hold the post with his vast diplomatic experience and strong credentials, especially in the multilateral fora.
Till 2020, Shahid was the only candidate in fray. India had also announced its support for his candidature during Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla to the island nation in November that year.
In a surprising development, Afghanistan's foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul entered the fray in mid-January.
Though Rassoul also has stellar credentials, his candidature was announced less than six months before the election. By then he had garnered the support of a majority of the voting nations.
Moreover, Afghanistan held the office of General Assembly session in 1966-67 during its 21st session.
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