Even a calamity this month, when 39 people died after a collision between two boats by an outlying island, did not bring the solidarity of shared grief.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

Mr Nasheed has pulled off a typically flamboyant stunt, leaving the capital island on a flotilla of boats chartered by his party to go campaigning in outlying islands, reports the BBC's Charles Haviland in Male.

BBC: Maldives ex-President Mohamed Nasheed defies court