United Nations : Hobbled by internal unrest and accusations of human rights violations, Maldives has lost its bid for Asia’s Security Council seat, which Indonesia won by a huge margin.
Indonesia received 144 votes, more than the required 127 for a two-thirds majority, while Maldives got only 46 votes in the elections on Friday.
The Asian seat was the only one of the five that was contested this year as there was unanimity in their respective blocs for the other four regional seats. South Africa won the African seat, Dominican Republic the Latin American and Caribbean representation, and Belgium and Germany the two Western European and Others Group (WEOG) seats. They all, however, had to get two-thirds of the votes in the General Assembly which has 193 members of whom 190 participated in the voting. They will serve a two-year term in the Council in 2019 and 2020, reports IANS.. Of the 10 non-permanent seats, five come up for election every year.