The cult of Yameen
President Abdulla Yameen and his wife have increasingly taken to feasts, festivals and colourful ceremonies, attended by fawning ministers and MPs, as his popularity sags amid a historic corruption scandal.
09 Jun 2016, 9:00 AM
On the eve of Ramadan, the Islamic ministry invited all Maldivian citizens to a communal feast at the Republic Square. First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim was the chief guest. The Islamic minister kicked off the feast thanking Fathimath for the importance she gave to religious affairs. She smiled, took a perfunctory bite of the food and left quickly. Only a few dozen people had turned up. The booths, housing sheikhs in Arabic garb ready to impart religious advice, stood empty.
President Abdulla Yameen and his wife have increasingly taken to feasts, festivals and colourful ceremonies, attended by fawning ministers and MPs, as the president’s popularity sags amid a historic corruption scandal.
All arms of the state have been employed for the publicity push. More worryingly, it has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent.
Officials of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives said the effort is spearheaded by Yameen’s re-election campaign office, led by Fathimath or ‘Madam Fathun’. “She is phenomenal,” said majority leader Ahmed Nihan. MPs and ministers are being deployed to their constituencies to listen to the public concerns, he said. These will be discussed among the parliamentary group and ministers and taken to the president, who will then decide on priorities.
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