Two years on – “Blame it on bro”
On its two year anniversary in power, the PPM government is mired in scandal. Yet there is no push for reform among its supporters. Blame was put on ex Vice President Ahmed Adeeb’s shoulders, while a purge of his loyalists was suggested to put the government back on track.
17 Nov 2015, 9:00 AM
President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, due to its majority in the parliament, was the most powerful government in recent history. But today, on his second anniversary in power, Yameen’s administration is destabilized by scandal. A minor blast on the presidential speedboat, labeled a bomb plot by the government, has resulted in the arrest and impeachment of the vice president, the firing of the defence minister and police chief, and exposed massive corruption within the police force and the tourism sector.
Tens of millions of dollars are missing in revenue and several firearms are said to be missing from the state armory. Citing imminent attacks, Yameen declared an unprecedented state of emergency, which lasted six days instead of the intended 30, earlier this month.
But there is no push for reform among the supporters of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives. The majority I spoke to said Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was to blame for the government’s woes, and thought a purge of his loyalists would put the government back on the right track.
“I never liked Adeeb,” said Aida Ismail, who works at the Football Association of Maldives. “He sought power from the beginning and in my opinion that’s not a good thing. And this [a bomb on the boat] is how he repays the president after all he has done for him. I’m very disappointed.”
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