The Board of Governors of the IAEA met in a Special Session on 22 September 2009 to elect its new officers for the year 2009/2010. This was a historic event for the Permanent Mission in Vienna as it was on this occasion that Dato’ Mohd. Arshad M. Hussain, Ambassador of Malaysia to Austria and Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, Vienna was elected as the Chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors. This is only the second time a Governor from Malaysia is being elected as Chairman, the first instance being in 1977/1978.At the start of the meeting, Rule 39 of the Rules and Procedure of the Board of Governors was suspended to allow Dato’ Mohd. Arshad's election by acclamation by Board Members together with his two Vice Chairs from Germany (Western Europe) and Romania (re-elected for the year 2009/2010 by the Eastern European group). After the announcement, Dato’ Mohd. Arshad was invited by the outgoing Chairperson, Ambassador Taous Feroukhi of Algeria to take over Chairing of the Special Session of the Board. |
Dato’ Mohd. Arshad in his acceptance speech, highlighted the value of consensus in view of the diverse national positions of IAEA Member States, as well as the impact of decisions of the Board of Governors have on human lives and the world. In Board deliberations, Dato’ Mohd. Arshad stressed that decorum and mutual respect were important, while the Board of Governors exhausts all channels of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve issues. Dato’ Mohd. Arshad also thanked the South East Asia and Pacific (SEAP) Group for nominating him and pledged his commitment in steering the work of the Board. He also expressed appreciation was also expressed to Ambassador Taous Feroukhi for her excellent conduct of Board meetings during the previous year.A total of 18 speakers (African Group, GRULAC, SEAP, Far East, NAM, EU, Malaysia, Cuba, Peru, Venezuela, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, Mongolia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kenya, Switzerland ) took the floor to congratulate Dato’ Mohd. Arshad on his election as well as to pay tribute to outgoing Chairperson Ambassador Tous Feroukhi of Algeria. Under Rule 50, non-Board members Sri Lanka, Iran, Morocco and Algeria also took the floor to deliver remarks. Speakers assured Dato’ Mohd. Arshad as the new Chairman, of their future cooperation and expressed their confidence in the new Chair’s leadership and ability to steer Board meetings during the 2009/2010 period. Also, the outgoing Chairperson, Ambasador Tous Feroukhi was thanked for her tireless efforts during the past year, especially in the creation of the Working Group on the Future of the Agency, for initiating the Informal Negotiations on the Programme and Budget as well as overseeing the difficult and protracted process to elect the new Director-General. |
