The United Nations Security Council opened its annual debate on working methods to the broader UN membership, with speakers warning that the organ risks becoming a vehicle for disinformation and urging structural reforms to overcome a record political deadlock over internal appointments.
Shamala Kandiah Thompson, Executive Director of Security Council Report, told the day-long session that delays in the allocation of chairs for the Council's subsidiary bodies have reached an unprecedented scale. The allocation of chairs was not agreed until late May 2025, and as of the debate no agreement exists for 2026 — making this the longest period without agreed chairs and vice-chairs since 1979. The impasse is linked to a dispute over who will chair the committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) and the broader disagreement over the reimposition of sanctions on Iran through the "snapback" mechanism. As a consequence, working groups are not functioning, sanctions committees are not being briefed, and accountability mechanisms are weakened.
Thompson proposed several remedies, including decoupling uncontested appointments from disputed ones, introducing two-year terms for chairs, strengthening vice-chairs, and clarifying procedures during prolonged impasses. She also urged the Council to consider officially disclosing results of the straw polls used in selecting the next Secretary-General, noting that the unofficial circulation of results during the 2016 process risked spreading inaccurate information. "Working methods cannot resolve political differences," she said, "but they can help the Council manage these differences, preserve its ability to function and make better use of its tools."
Nearly 60 speakers took the floor. The representative of Liberia, speaking for the Council's 10 elected members, called for Presidential Note 507 — the principal framework governing the Council's working methods, most recently issued in 2024 — to be treated as a living document updated with time-bound contingency arrangements. He stressed that the Council's strength rests not only on Charter powers but on the confidence member states place in it "to exercise those powers fairly, effectively, transparently and responsibly."
Divisions among the permanent members were openly on display. France's representative called the impasse over subsidiary body chairs "unacceptable" and warned against turning the Council into a platform for disinformation or "a circus by inviting outlandish briefers." The United Kingdom echoed that ad hoc workarounds by Council presidents are "no substitute for a solution." Russia's representative, by contrast, expressed regret that the Council's agenda is being "diluted" by issues outside its mandate, warning that many draft resolutions are "divorced from reality" and carry "an openly confrontational charge." China's representative said forcing votes on controversial resolutions significantly undermines their weight. The United States flagged concern over what it described as the President of the General Assembly's overreach in the Secretary-General selection process.
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