Twenty First Century Rannamari

When the Reform Movement started in earnest in 2004, it was clear that the Presidency of Qayyoom, or Qayyoom himself was the main obstruction for Maldivians to achieve their dreams of a fulfilling life. Seemingly he held all the power. He was perceived to be all powerful, and hence it was very easy to assume, and even easier to convince people, that the panacea to all our troubles was to remove him from office.

Ironically, the very fact that Qayyoom held all this power was also the basis for his downfall. Those around him had been abusing public office for years, and by and large, Qayyoom had been taking the blame for all abuses in front of the public. The theory was, I think, that there would never be a day when he would be held accountable for anything. Those abusing public office, and those enjoying his patronage would always be there to “cushion” the impact. As a result, Qayyoom was seen by many to be the source of all troubles, and removing him from office would, by default, solve our problems, just like that. To be fair, the poor guy most probably did not know what was happening within his government half the time. That is not say that his “not knowing” absolves him from anything. It was his business TO know, and it is a pretty lame excuse as an answer for his incompetency. Nevertheless, the end game has shown that none of his cronies are coming to his rescue now, and he is being dropped like a hot potato very quickly. Lessons to be learnt here for all “Presidential Hopefuls”!

Sometimes you feel sorry for the fellow when all those people who benefitted from his illegitimate rule, received undue favours from him to build up multi-million dollar empires, filled high posts in his government when they had no right to, just turn around and start crying “foul” on him. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks to himself these days. Must be bitter feelings, he has, these days. But I suppose he could take some comfort in the fact that there still are people like us, who have at least been consistent in our criticisms of the way he governs.

What is significant in our ponderings on the “bring down Qayyoom panacea” is that, even after the might of Qayyoom has been brought down, there are some who still want to cultivate and promote the idea that Qayyoom is still all powerful, and that the primary thing is to get him out of office. For those people, even forgoing the processes required to hold a free and fair election, giving out and receiving bribes, using gang violence, distributing joints and “pieces” can be justified on the ground that all this is for the single objective of “bringing down Qayyoom”. Even if it means taking the nation out of Qayyoom’s hands and putting it in the hands of a cartel of corrupt and greedy businessmen or in the hands of one who doesn’t even have a notion of what rule of law is about.

The way I see it, the very existence of certain schools of thought can only be justified with the existence of a real or perceived all powerful Qayyoom. Hence this myth has to be cultivated carefully to justify the actions necessary to sustain these schools of thought, and their place in Maldivian politics. Isn’t it a contradiction itself, that the very existence of those trying to bring down Qayyoom is so dependant on Qayyoom himself? Talk about symbiotic relationships!

The reality is that Qayyoom’s power has been stripped off him now. All the props holding up the regime have crumbled away. The opportunists are now frantically looking for another “Qayyoom” to prop up so that they can be all important in the process. Question is, will the public see this and understand this in time?

I say, forget Qayyoom now. Focus on the future. Take charge of our own lives and destinies. Let us vow to ourselves, that never again will we allow others to dictate to us. We have an excellent constitution in place now, a constitution which truly lets us define our futures. Let us be thoughtful in how we exercise our newly acquired liberties and freedoms.

One unanswered question in Maldivian folklore has been whether there ever really was a Rannamari, or was it an illusion created by the Sultan to take the rap for all the virgins he raped and killed? We can breathe easy when all Rannamaris have been finally put to rest.