Africa-Press – Mauritius. In India, as much as it’s the case here, negotiations to forge a workable, credible and winnable multi-party Opposition front are far from a done deal. And even when each leader is willing to sacrifice personal ambitions, egos and demands in favour of the greater national objectives, the ultimate test will rest in the buy-in by an electorate that has seen many variants over time.
We know how the publicly conducted, prolonged negotiations in 2014 and the unsaleable twin engine formula (Labour Party-MMM) of power-sharing left large segments of the population feeling stranded. While the LP retained most of its core electorate, both rural and urban, it was the MMM that lost many of its key lieutenants and faithfuls since the 2014 negotiations, and recovery has been made more difficult by further defections through the lure of MSM in office.
That reality, manifest in their modest showing at the 2017 by-elections in urban Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes constituency, combined with the necessity for an alliance to win over a clear mandate in the rural areas that constitute half of the electoral seats, may hang in the background as Opposition leaders are working on a winnable and credible formula between the three traditional parties in which the LP has already been recognised as the perceived and real locomotive.
Some may feel that such a platform would be an almost sine qua non to limit the ability of other Opposition figures/parties (Resistans ek Alternativ, Nando Bodha, Roshi Bhadain, Bruno Laurette and others), with due respect to their individualities, to muddy the waters or detract from the grander national objectives of a more democratic and less oppressive society.
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