OPCW Director-General Jose M. Bustani has been dismissed by a 48 to 7 vote, with 90 Member-States either abstaining or failing to attend.
The United States had called for a Special Session of the Conference of the States Parties, the governing body of the Organisationa for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
It was the first Special Session in the organisation’s brief history and the rules, as outlined in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), require that that only one third plus one of the membership is needed to call for a Special Session.
There are, at present, 145 Member-States. One third of 145 is 48.33, so since there are no partial members, the decimal point was dropped and the required 49 agreed.
The rules further state that all that is needed for a motion to pass is for a majority of those attending and voting in the Special Session to agree, the key phrase being “and voting”. Only actual votes are to be counted and abstentions are irrelevant.
The United States had asked for the Special Session for the single purpose of calling for a vote to dismiss Director-General Bustani.
The United States had called for a Special Session of the Conference of the States Parties, the governing body of the Organisationa for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
It was the first Special Session in the organisation’s brief history and the rules, as outlined in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), require that that only one third plus one of the membership is needed to call for a Special Session.
There are, at present, 145 Member-States. One third of 145 is 48.33, so since there are no partial members, the decimal point was dropped and the required 49 agreed.
The rules further state that all that is needed for a motion to pass is for a majority of those attending and voting in the Special Session to agree, the key phrase being “and voting”. Only actual votes are to be counted and abstentions are irrelevant.
The United States had asked for the Special Session for the single purpose of calling for a vote to dismiss Director-General Bustani.