Maldives suffered a heavy defeat to lose the highly coveted United Nations (UN) security council seat to Indonesia on Friday.
Indonesia defeated the Maldives in the only contested election for a seat on the Security Council starting January 1 to join the UN's most powerful body along with Germany, Belgium, South Africa and the Dominican Republic.
Despite huge confidence by the Maldives government to pull off a successful bid, Indonesia triumphed with an overwhelming 144 to 46 votes.
There are 15 members on the UN Security Council, including the five permanent ones -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and 10 non-permanent members, half of which are elected each year.
As expected, Belgium and Germany obtained the two seats for the Western Europe and Others Group after Israel dropped out of the competition.
In accordance with a deal at the African Union, the Africa slot went to South Africa, while the Dominican Republic secured the Latin America's spot after a similar consensus in that group.
Winning a seat on the Security Council is a pinnacle of achievement for many countries - especially for the smaller nations as it gives them a strong voice in matters dealing with international peace and security.
The rather embarrassing defeat would be a major blow to the Maldives government and could be perceived as a significant sign of the fading international support for the island nation ravaged by unprecedented political strife.
Incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's government has been under intense international pressure over the jailing of key opposition leaders and curbing of constitutional rights and freedoms.
One of Yameen's vice presidents, two of his defense ministers, two supreme court justices, a prosecutor general and numerous opposition politicians have been jailed. Former strongman and Yameen's elder half brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom - now an opposition politician himself - is under detention and on trial for terrorism.
In February, the Supreme Court ordered the release and retrial of self-exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed and several of Yameen's opponents. But Yameen quickly had two Supreme Court justices arrested under a state of emergency, accusing them of plotting to unlawfully oust him from power.
The remaining three judges have since annulled the order to release the jailed leaders.
