Malawi on Friday abstained from a United Nations General Assembly (Unga) vote on Palestine’s bid to become a full UN member, drawing condemnation from civil rights activists.

Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the UN received support from 143 out of 193 UN member States while nine countries voted against the bid. Malawi and 24 others, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and Ukraine, abstained from the vote.

UN Security Council in session during the resolution

In an interview yesterday, Malawi Palestine Solidarity Movement coordinator Asabuni Phiri described Malawi’s decision to abstain from the vote as unfortunate.

“Malawi has been indicating that it supports a two-State solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine so it is unfortunate that Malawi abstained when that resolution was proposed at the Unga,” he said.

Human Rights Defenders Coalition  chairperson Gift Trapence said Malawi will be on the bad side of history when it comes to denial of Palestinians’ right to their own statehood.

He said: “Malawi needs to be exemplary when it comes to the principles of protecting the world citizens beyond politicisation of such rights.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said while the decision is hardly surprising considering that the country has consistently shown that it is not in favour of Palestine, Malawi is exposing itself to international ridicule.

The Unga resolution adopted on Friday recommends that the UN Security Council should reconsider the matter of Palestine’s bid for full UN membership.

It also gives Palestine the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order, to request items to be put on the UNGA’s provisional agenda and to make statements on behalf of groups of nations in the assembly.

In April, Malawi also voted against a UN Human Rights Council resolution demanding accountability from Israel for alleged war crimes in the conflict in Gaza.

The post Malawi abstains from UN vote on Palestine first appeared on Nation Online.

The post Malawi abstains from UN vote on Palestine appeared first on Nation Online.