The first Vice President of the current administration, Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed says that Maldives' defeat at United Nations Security Council on Friday "is no surprise" and that it is "time to rise up and remove this dictator at the ballot box".

The self-exiled former VP made the statement via twitter, adding that the "abduction of chief justice, total collapse of democratic system and rule of law have brought only shame at home and abroad".

Indonesia defeated Maldives by winning the only contested election for the 2019 - 2020 seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The vote took place at a plenary meeting held on Friday in which Indonesia won the Asia-Pacific region with 144 votes, while Maldives was only able to secure just 46 votes.

Foreign Minister Dr. Mohamed Asim was missing from Friday's meeting at the UN.

Prior to the vote, Fisheries minister Dr. Mohamed Shainee, who led the Maldivian delegation at the UN headquarters in New York, expressed his confidence that Maldives would win the Asia-Pacific region seat.

Minister Shainee had even tried to convince India that it will benefit if Maldives were to be elected for the seat, despite the disagreements between the neighboring countries, with Maldives even asking the country to take back the second of two ALH helicopters gifted by the Indian government,

At the time, Shainee had noted that Maldives had played a prominent role in electing India as a permanent member of the Security Council.

While India had given its assurance that it will vote for Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra visited Indonesia at the end of May.