Presiding officer's expectations of SC Reform session

UN Herald interviewed one of the two presiding officers of the UN General Assembly, Ms. Karolina Praček. Alongside with her colleague Damjan Vinko she chaired the first session very successfully. They ensured that debate among delegates ran smoothly and that it was held in accordance to rules of procedure. Successful chairing is another reason why the public has big expectations for the last two sessions of General Assembly.  However, even presiding officers have big expectations from delegates and see some room for improvement.

In the first part of interview Ms. Praček evaluated the first session in very positive manner. She claimed that "adopted resolution is great success and that should be legitimate reason to be satisfied with the outcome of the first session." In addition to this, presiding officer wes satisfied with the adopted resolution because she is aware how hard is to harmonize all the different country positions. Ms. Praček was also very pleased with the work and contribution of delegates. "It was clear that they are well prepared and they had interest in the subject-matter," she pointed out.

However, she believes that next sessions can be performed even on higher level. "There is always room for improvement " she started. "It was clear that some speeches were read and I think that some delegates should be more open and spontaneous," she pointed one as one of the weaknesses of first session. According to her that some delegates could be more reactive to other delegates' remarks. What she missed also was more concrete facts about the topic discussed and "not high-lighting the obvious".

The second part of interview was about the expectations for Security Council reform session. "I encourage all delegates to look for constant improvement"she stated. She is certain that with the will and skills that delegates showed in the first session, firm and long-lasting reform is possible. She refused to talk about any concrete reform expected by presiding officers. "I think it is too soon to expect anything and it is up to delegates to find the solution," she concluded. She also refused to comment if Presiding officers received any non-official or non-public proposition about SC reform. However, they are assuring that they will give this issue total attention after the second topic and start collecting possible resolutions.

Ms. Praček gave us more precise answer to the question why is now the right time to discuss Security Council reform. You can listen to it bellow:
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Luka Kavčič