United Nations: 6 countries lose voting rights in General Assembly. Watch who and why

At least 6 countries have lost their voting rights in the United Nations General Assembly. Out of the six, at least three countries defaulted on paying dues to the UN's operating budget.

These are Venezuela, Lebanon, and South Sudan. The others who lost voting rights are Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

UN members whose arrears equal or exceed the amount of their contributions for the preceding two full years lose their voting rights. But the UN Charter also gives the 193-member General Assembly the authority to decide "that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member," and in that case a country can continue to vote.

The General Assembly decided that three African countries on the list of nations in arrears - Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia - would be able to keep their voting rights. It granted the three countries the same exemption last year.

According to the secretary-general's letter, the minimum payments needed to restore voting rights are USD 76,244,991 for Venezuela, USD 1,835,303 for Lebanon, USD 6,19,103 for Equatorial Guinea, USD 1,96,130 for South Sudan, USD 61,686 for Gabon, and USD 20,580 for Dominica.

(With agency inputs)

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