Maldives routed in UN Security Council election; Indonesia is winner

Maldives was routed on Friday in the Security Council elections in which Indonesia emerged the winner for the Asian seat.

Indonesia received 144 votes, more than the 127 required for a two-thirds majority, in the General Assembly while Maldives got only 46 votes.

Indonesia made a big push for its election, with the lobbying efforts headed by Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi at the UN.

Maldives, meanwhile, was hobbled by internal unrest and the jailing of its Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed.

The elections were held to pick the regional representatives for the elected Council seats for 2019-20.

There was a contest only for the Asian seat, while the candidates from the other regions were elected unopposed.

Although the seats are distributed on a regional basis, all the countries vote for the candidates.

South Africa won the African seat, Dominican Republic the Latin American and Caribbean representation, and Belgium and Germany the two Western European seats.

Kuwait, which was elected last year, holds the other Asian seat through next year.

Kazakhstan will be completing its term at the end of this year, when Indonesia will take over.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

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