Africa-Press – Mauritius. In several countries where there is a tradition of going to the polls regularly, citizens are characterized by an increasingly worrying abstention. Electoral volatility increases depending on the performance of the outgoing government and also on economic and social issues.
The media and certain citizens play their role of watchdog by regularly disseminating information about politicians and their close associates. Raj Meetarbhan, journalist, tells us about it.
What lessons do you draw from the Showkutally Soodhun case, in particular the way the police handled the whole case and the position taken by the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior?
Raj Meetarbhan: I see that questions are flying about the Soodhun case! Let’s start with the lessons of this controversy that has been going on for ten days now. For me, this is not a case where there is actual incitement to violence or racial hatred.
It is simply obtuse remarks uttered by a man who lacks finesse, which leads many to think that he is unworthy of occupying a position of such high responsibility.
Because a Deputy Prime Minister weighs his words. Whether Soodhun was a careless talker, or even capable of doing just about anything, anyhow, we already knew.
We just got a new illustration, that’s all. Soodhun’s “blunders” are commonplace. The latest is neither more serious nor less serious than the previous ones.
His comments about Xavier Duval are unfortunate because they needlessly diverted the country’s attention from the real issues we face. I draw the conclusion that nothing has changed.
Each time a political bickering occurs in Mauritius, it takes on a disproportionate extent and obscures the rest of the news. A man puts on a show and instead of exposing himself to ridicule and national contempt, he arouses a seemingly serious debate.
I am not minimizing the excessive comments made by Soodhun on July 18 in Flacq. I simply propose an offbeat reading so that we do not stop at a simple case of verbal slippage… The system is sick and it is not up to the police to remedy this evil.
* The police, precisely… Let’s move on to how she handled the case. There is a perception that its action is dictated more by considerations of political strategy.
If we had thought that the pressure of bloggers on social networks would force the police to change their behavior, we were wrong. The police could have decided not to follow up on this case simply because Soodhun’s remarks do not deserve their attention.
But, we know that is not the case. If the police opted for inaction, it is not because they judged that they had better things to do than arrest Soodhun. But there too, there is this perception that she would have acted as she does in certain circumstances: not to embarrass the Treasury building.
* And, how do you react to the position adopted by the Prime Minister and leader of the MSM, when he says he is waiting for the conclusion of the police investigation before considering any sanction?
I imagine that Pravind Jugnauth is weighing and weighing the parameters that will intervene in his final decision-making. What are the political advantages and disadvantages of his decision? Will it take into account ethics, the morality of public life or the performance of the minister?
Basically, it is an electoral calculation that he is led to make and he will take the time it takes. It is not the police investigation that he expects.
The question that arises for him: what does he gain and what does he lose by sanctioning Soodhun? I think he needs to buy time to solve this political equation. It is unlikely that the police will decide to act before Pravind Jugnauth has reached a decision on the way forward.
The Commissioner declared, after the departure of VPM Soodhun for medical care, a visit scheduled well before the case according to Pravind Jugnauth, that the police, acting in complete “transparency and independence”, are at work, day and night, to search for evidence that could support any possible indictment of the VPM in a court of law.
We cannot arrest people wrongly and through, added Mr. Nobin. The average Mauritian can only rejoice, can’t he? I told you just now that it is a bickering that turns into melodrama.
The explanation provided by the police leads me to think that it is rather vaudeville. What ? The police are hard at work, day and night, looking for evidence that the words attributed to Soodhun were actually made? It’s surrealism. One hardly dares to believe that these are remarks made in front of a large audience, including police officers who were on duty that day.
The police would have been more credible if they had told us that they studied the offending remarks carefully and concluded that there was neither incitement to violence nor incitement to racial hatred but only an unfortunate verbal slip .
* It would seem that it is the press but also the popular pressure coming mainly from Internet users, not really from associations or civil society, and conveyed by social networks following the threats of Showkutally Soodhun and the depositions to the police of the leader of the opposition and other outraged citizens who caused the Commissioner of Police to make a statement on the case and the Prime Minister to react.
Your comments ? Can we still have the ability to be indignant when the clowning of the character has been increasing for years? His circus acts are too recurrent for them to still inspire me with indignation.
Rather, they lead me to wonder about the electoral behavior of Mauritians. We don’t always make smart choices. Let’s not forget that Soodhun was elected in second position at La Caverne/Phoenix in December 2014 with 52.7% of the votes cast.
* It could also be that the “checks and balances” in our political system are not working as they should to curb the slippages or at least “restrain and constrain” the “dangerous clowns” or any other politician, that he is either Prime Minister or leader of the opposition.
What do you think ? But, precisely, this filter is the voter. It is he who must eliminate the jesters of the king when he goes to the polls. It is up to the voter to exclude from the political field the wacky characters who bring shame to the country.
* Some observers maintain that the attitude adopted by Pravind Jugnauth in relation to the Soodhun affair demonstrates an inability to take the necessary decisions because of a whole system and a clique he inherited from the former Prime Minister.
Is it exaggerated? Without a doubt. I don’t think Pravind Jugnauth is impulsive like his father, but I don’t think he’s affected by indecision either.
I rather believe that he is managing the situation cautiously so that his electoral interests are compromised as little as possible by this affair. You know, in chess as in politics, sometimes a pawn is sacrificed to protect the king.
* As for the lawyer-politicians whose names were cited before the Lam Shang Leen Commission, the Prime Minister seems determined to clean up at the appropriate time.
He really doesn’t have a choice, does he? We must salute the tremendous work that the Lam Shang Leen Commission is carrying out with courage and determination.
Drug trafficking can have devastating consequences on a country, on the governance of the country because drug money infiltrates national institutions, political life and poisons the whole country.
We understood this with the Rault Commission, we saw the same scenario again with the Lam Shang Leen Commission. This Commission will be remembered as a fine legacy left by Anerood Jugnauth. A huge job is being done. Its impact will be social, political and economic.
* In any case, the parliamentary holidays will perhaps not be easy for the Prime Minister, with a file no less important than the management of the latest escapade of VPM Soodhun: the by-election at no.18, which could coincide with the publication of the findings of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Drugs.
It promises to be hot for what remains of the Lepep Alliance, it seems? A sad fate awaits the country if the Government loses interest in the economic field.
The political activities you cite, as intense as they are, unfortunately do not advance a country. We need something solid, concrete. In 50 years, no one will remember Soodhun’s inappropriate comments or the outcome of a partial.
However, future generations will not forgive us if we leave them a country incapable of solving its public transport problems or implementing long-awaited reforms, particularly in the public service.
On the other hand, the economic miracle still does not take place and the indicators on the dashboard of the national economy do not inspire confidence.
* A ‘remake’ of the ‘Remake MMM-MSM’ becomes complicated, with all the pots lying around behind the Government. Paul Bérenger has surely taken good note of this and will act accordingly.
It seems that things are being activated within the PTr, the PMSD and the Patriotic Movement with a view to an arrangement for a single candidate for the partial at no. 18.
We are therefore already working on drawing the outlines of the next alliances… Electoral permutations are a sport that we really like to practice. Even when there is no electoral deadline in sight, we often tend to analyze everything in terms of the will to bring one party closer to another.
Often it is fantasy. Each statement made by Paul Bérenger at his Saturday Mass is dissected by Mauritians eager to know who their heart beats for and what choice they could make for the 2019 legislative elections…
It is an exercise that does not make sense to me because the electoral dynamics fluctuate enormously according to the circumstances in Mauritius. Between now and 2019, a lot of water will flow under the bridge.
Why do we insist so much that alliances are being established now? We should know that Bérenger’s weekly remarks have nothing to do with the choice he will make in two years at the time of the legislative elections.
Bérenger is capable of announcing one day that his party is light years away from the Labor Party and the next day throwing himself into the arms of Ramgoolam – or rather into the nets of the shark fisherman.
When we consider the speed at which our politicians can travel, we should avoid speculating too much on the future based on current data. These politicians cross light years in less than 24 hours and they have zigzag trajectories. So let’s not extrapolate as if everything is linear in politics.
When you are on such shifting sand as the political terrain in Mauritius, you should not jump to conclusions because the contours that seem to be taking shape today are quickly disappearing to allow new lines of demarcation to be created.
You are referring to a possible common candidate PTr-PMSD – Patriotic Movement. Even if it were to happen, I think that this common candidacy will in no way prefigure the future composition of the blocs that will compete for the 2019 legislative elections.
Why draw plans on the comet when we know very well that our politicians can jump from one bed to another at any time? On the other hand, let me tell you that behind this common approach hides a sincere relationship between two men, Xavier Duval and Arvin Boolell.
They get along well with each other. Politicians have feelings too! I can’t see Xavier Duval campaigning against Arvin Boolell at no. 18. Now, I dare not venture to say that this purely circumstantial situation will lead to a lasting marriage in 2019.
Xavier Duval and Arvin Boolell belong to the same generation and share common traits. They are both smooth and spotless people. They can unite for a specific cause.
However, the data will be totally different in 2019. There are too many unknowns at this stage to assess the chances of a PMSD/PT or PMSD/PTSR (Labour Party Without Ramgoolam) alliance materializing.
* Precisely, what does your journalistic flair tell you about 2019 – or a little before this deadline – in case the PM decides to call a snap election? Scientific rigor prevents me from relying on any journalistic flair that I possess.
However, it is possible to analyze, with the objective data we currently have, that Pravind Jugnauth has no interest in hastening the ruin of his party by going to early elections.
Why should he take a risk even if he feels that the current mess in the opposition is doing him good? He knows very well that electoral science is not an exact science and that no one can give him the guarantee of a certain victory.
Theresa May has just lost her absolute majority when she believed she could have strong support by calling an early election. Even if he were to be landed, Soodhun’s departure will not weaken the MSM-ML majority and is unlikely to force a general election.
If you ask me: “Which party has the best chance of winning legislative elections if they were organized this Sunday? », I will answer you without hesitation that it is the party of the non-party.
Disenchantment with traditional parties is total. There is a loss of confidence in the parties that have historically dominated the scene. For the time being, no other formation has yet emerged to pretend to conquer power. Let us not forget, however, that politics abhors a vacuum.
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