NUSA DUA  - Turkey and Afghanistan called Thursday for reform of the UN Security Council during a democracy forum, with the Turkish premier saying the current set-up was blocking action on Syria.
They were joined in their calls by Indonesia, the host of the fifth Bali Democracy Forum which has brought together several world leaders for two days of debate. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the council’s current set-up - five veto-wielding permanent members and 10 non-permanent members without veto - meant it was up to five countries “to decide on the fate of humanity”.
“We would like to see a new structure in place whereby the whole of humanity will be organised around the principle of justice and equality. There should be a new organisation,” he said.
Erdogan, who called last month for reform of the council, said: “The Syrian regime is encouraged by this bottleneck in the international system.”
Former allies Ankara and Damascus have seen their relations worsened drastically since an uprising erupted against the Syrian regime in March 2011. Thousands have been killed since then.
Russia and China, two of the veto-wielding members, have blocked three draft resolutions supported by Western and Arab countries on the grounds they unduly interfere in Syria’s domestic affairs.
“The Security Council does not represent all of us, the five permanent members having individual powers is not democratic,” said Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  A “more democratic global order” was necessary, he said. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the situation in Syria “must remind us of the failure of the current irrational system”.
“Reform of the UN Security Council is needed now more than ever before,” he said.