Ecuadorean FM Maria Garces elected President of 73rd UNGA session

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces was today elected the President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, becoming only the fourth women to lead the world body in its seven-decades long history.

Garces joins the small list of female assembly presidents. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, veteran Indian diplomat and sister of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first woman to be elected President of the General Assembly in as early as 1953.

Later, Angie Elisabeth Brooks of Liberia was elected president in 1969 and Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain in 2006.

Garces will succeed Miroslav Lajcak, who is Slovakia's foreign minister, as president of the world body for a year, starting September this year when the new General Assembly session will commence.

The President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly had to be elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group, following the principle of geographical rotation.

Normally, the regional groups nominate a single candidate who is then elected by acclamation but since Latin Americans countries could not find consensus on any single candidate, elections were held to choose between Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake, Permanent Representative of Honduras to the United Nations and Garces.

Garces got 128 votes in a secret ballot conducted today by the 193-members of the UN's most representative body. The UN General Assembly is one of the six main organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all Member States have equal representation - one nation, one vote.

Flake got 62 votes.

Lajcak said Garces will be only the fourth female President of the General Assembly in 73 years, which is "not a record to be proud of."
She said she would also work to "bring the United Nations closer to the people, with permanent actions to make sure that the United Nations work is known and appreciated by global society. People should feel and recognize that the United Nations has the capacity to face and solve conflicts and humankind's challenges."