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The Philippines
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Philippines’ UN defeat: a result of domestic ‘political circus’, close ties with US?

Kyrgyzstan won a seat on the UN Security Council due to perceptions of its neutrality and Central Asia’s under-representation, analysts say

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Philippine police crowd control personnel block pro-Vice-President Sara Duterte protesters outside the Senate of the Philippines, in Manila last month. Photo: AP
Sam Beltran
The Philippines’ landslide defeat to Kyrgyzstan for a UN Security Council seat has dealt a blow to Manila’s long-running campaign to raise its international diplomatic profile through the prestigious body, prompting questions about President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s foreign policy legacy.
Analysts said the loss reflected the appeal of having under-represented Central Asia play a role in the council, Kyrgyzstan’s perceived neutrality and the geopolitical baggage attached to the Philippines as a close treaty ally of the United States.

Manila’s political turmoil might also have weighed on perceptions of its candidacy, they said, with a bitter power struggle flaring between the Marcos and Duterte camps.

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On Wednesday, the Philippines received 49 out of 191 votes after four rounds of voting, while Kyrgyzstan won 142 votes and secured the Asia-Pacific seat at the Security Council for the 2027-2028 term.

Under its set-up, the council has five permanent veto-wielding members – the US, China, Russia, the UK and France – and 10 elected members, with the latter group serving two-year terms.

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Kyrgyzstan’s coming term will be its first on the council and only the second time a Central Asian country has held a seat, after Kazakhstan in 2017–2018.

The General Assembly also elected Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe, with Germany stunningly defeated in its latest bid to rejoin the council.

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