Africa-Press – Mauritius. The judgement of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the appeal lodged by Suren Dayal in relation to his electoral petition which called for the invalidation of the election of MSM candidates in Constituency No. 8, namely Pravind Jugnauth, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun and Yogida Sawmynaden, will in all likelihood be delivered within the next weeks.
This is a much awaited judgement given the fact that unlike other electoral petitions lodged by a number of unreturned candidates in different constituencies, which were grounded on objections relating to discrepancies in the Recapitulation of Votes forms and the opacity surrounding the operation of Computer Rooms at Counting Centres, the main arguments put forward by Suren Dayal relate to alleged electoral bribery/corruption or the undue influence of electors at the 2019 elections.
The five main grounds of the Dayal’s petition included the promise of a substantial upward revision of the retirement pension (to Rs 9,000 in January 2020, contrary to what was stated in the 2019-2020 Budget Speech which referred an increase of Rs 500), the accelerated implementation of the Pay Research Bureau report in favour of public sector employees as from January 2020, the promise to pay more than Rs 3 billion to holders of the Super Cash Back Gold plan and those of Bramer Asset Management Ltd, the announcement of the payment of a performance bonus to police officers, fire-fighters and prison officers as well as the alleged misuse of the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), which would have also contributed to unduly influence voters in general, including those in Constituency No. 8.
It also took objection to the announcement made by Pravind Jugnauth at an official function organized in October 2019 on the occasion of the International Day for Older Persons, which had been broadcast live on television and taken up in the news bulletins of the MBC, relating to an increase in the old age pension from Rs 6,210 to Rs 13,500. In 2021 the Supreme Court dismissed the election petition on all grounds.
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