Elections at ECOSOC 5th April 2016: INCB

The International Narcotics Control Board recently held elections for several new members. In two rounds of secret balloting, the Council elected — from candidates nominated by Governments — Sevil Atasoy (Turkey), David T. Johnson (United States), Galina A. Korchagina (Russian Federation), Luis Alberto Otarola Peñaranda (Peru) and Alejandro Mohar Betancourt (Mexico) to the Board for a five-year term beginning 2 March 2017. The other candidates were Parviz Afshar (Iran), Chafika Bensaoula (Algeria), Wolfgang Artur Goetz (Germany), Amalia Margarita Laborde García (Uruguay), Ana dos Passos da Conceição Mamede Graça (Angola), Maria Lucia Oliveira de Souza Formigoni (Brazil), Ahmed Kamal El Din Samak (Egypt), Sri Suryawati (Indonesia), Luis Yarzabal (Uruguay) and Fadi Mustafa Yousef Alattiat (Jordan).

In a single round of secret balloting, the Council also elected — among candidates nominated by the World Health Organization (WHO) — Cornelius de Joncheere (Netherlands) and Richard Mattick (Australia) for the same term. The other candidates were Mohammed Tamouh Abou-Saleh (Syria), Lukas Radbruch (Germany) and Emran Razaghi (Iran).

In terms of the politics of international drug control, the balance of reformist and conservative elements in the make-up of the Board remain broadly the same. A notable departure, however, will be former President Raymond Yans, who will leave when his term expires in 2017.

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