Random Reflexions

Good morning, my dear bloggers and compatriots of Dhivehi Raaje. Today maybe an ordinary day on any calendar but it is a momentous day in the history of our country. We are about to vote in the first ever Multi-candidate election in history.

Let today be a day we not only open a new chapter but an entirely new new book to write history and forever change the course of this country and salvage it from the depths of corruption and oppression. Today, when you vote, vote for change. No matter what, change is a good thing. If change is not good now then it is change itself that can make good too.

And change here means voting out Gayoom from power. Nothing more, nothing less. That is the absolute change we need. Don't be fooled into thinking that no other candidate is as astute, as smart-looking, as educated as Gayoom and therefore you will vote invalid or vote for Gayoom to usher in a period of smooth transition of power. Do not delude yourself into thinking that Gayoom is reformed. One can change a child's thinking and see realistic change but one cannot change a 70 something old man and expect anything but the same old quack.

What's more, Gayoom and his gang have over the past 3 decades gone too far down the rabbit-hole of fraud and depravity for them to ever find their way out. Let us close-up that hole with the occupants inside today, right here, right now.

I cannot remember a time without Gayoom in power and now I have my own kids. My son is now 5 and it was exactly 30 years ago when I was 5 that Gayoom came to power. From when I was just 5 until today Gayoom has orchestrated and put in a system of corruption and fraudulent dealings and slowly robbed and leeched from our Dhivehi Raaje. How old was I when millions were stolen from FPID? I do not know. How many more millions would have been stolen in wheelings and dealings when I was just 10? I cannot fathom.

I want my children to read about the 30 year regime of Gayoom in history books. I certainly do not want them to hold real, tangible memories of this depressing era or any era with Gayoom still in power. That would be a shame on me. I want my children to see a new, better future here in Dhivehi Raaje.

Today, I am giving a special gift to my children. The gift of change. And although they do not understand any of this I know that one day they will grow up to read about the historical day that is today. And I do not want to hear them reading or talking about how Dhivehin fooled and deluded themselves and re-elected Gayoom and squandered the the country's future and paid for it dearly in the years that followed.

I would be absolutely ashamed to face that.

I will think before I vote, yes, but I will definitely vote for change. Let us take back Dhivehi Raaje - this beautiful country that is rightfully ours.