Maldives: state of insanity – part II

Last ‘chapter’ ended with Yameen’s 45 minute tirade absolving himself of all blame and placing it all squarely on the rounded shoulders of his ‘fondest VP’. Shortly after, things began to spin out of control. It was as if the president was on a bad acid trip he could not escape. Everyone was out to get him. Snipers, bombers, witches, soothsayers, sharp shooters…they were all coming at him. When a president with an army at his command and an armoury at his disposal has a bad trip or an episode of intense paranoia, the consequences can be markedly different from when an ordinary person has such experiences. Everyone is forced to live the President’s nightmare. So here’s what happened next.

The Investigation into the Finifenmaa Blast was going full-steam ahead under the esteemed leadership of Home Minister Umar Naseer and his stellar detection techniques acquired in 1992 and never updated since. On 31 October, however, it hit a roadblock when the Wall Street Journal, or Wall Street as Umar would have it, published a storysaying the FBI had found no conclusive evidence to prove the explosion was caused by a bomb. Umar quickly convened a press conference the morning after, telling local reporters neither the FBI, nor any forensic teams by their nature, ever publish any conclusive findings. What Maldives had sought from the scientists they invited to examine the boat blast was their opinion. Looking for forensic evidence, the eminent Top Detective of the Maldive Islands explained, is like “looking for the new moon ahead of Eid. The moon maybe sighted on [the island of] Washafaru, but not on Kelaa. That does not mean the moon does not exist.”