Africa-Press – Mauritius. An assembly of MMM delegates held last Sunday, two years after the previous one, and which announces neither decision, nor vote, nor resolution, contrary to what is normally done on such occasions, is still surprising.
What is such an assembly for? Show of force in anticipation of the next negotiations of electoral alliances? Jocelyn Chan Low: What happened last Sunday at the MMM Delegates Assembly at the Plaza is very much in the order of things. It was an open assembly of delegates to which all militants from the various branches of the party had been invited.
At the MMM, a distinction has always been made between an open assembly of delegates where the party leadership meets with activists to inform them of the latest political developments and a closed assembly where only duly mandated branch delegates have access and where major decisions are taken.
taken through a democratic vote of all of these delegates. The MMM has always worked like this. What should challenge us is the timing of this assembly.
Undoubtedly, important decisions are in the pipeline as to the direction of the party. Is this the end of the Hope Agreement and yet another rapprochement with the PTr?
* Paul Bérenger declared during this same meeting that “the MMM has the answer to the famous quest for change”.
Hard to believe that a party whose electoral performance has declined sharply from one election to another over the past twenty years can hold the key or more precisely “the answer” to change?
The answer he evokes is perhaps not only a formula for political accommodation with other political formations but above all a program of institutional reforms to put an end to autocratic drifts, according to the terms used by the very serious institute V-Dem, ongoing for the past few years.
The MMM wants to reconnect with an old tradition of the party which is that of being a force of proposal. And in that, he is addressing that very broad section of the electorate who, as a significant number of polls have revealed, want systemic change in the political life of the country.
The ‘marches’ in the wake of the Wakashio and the ensuing debates clearly demonstrated this desire for change. Moreover, this explains the increasingly visible involvement of young people in politics in Mauritius.
However, for many of them, this means a total rejection of all the traditional parties and the ‘dinosaurs’ which have fossilized political life in Mauritius for their own interests. Paul Bérenger’s speech is also a response to this criticism and an attempt to position the MMM as a key agent of change demanded.
* Another fact to note is the same message sent to MMM delegates last Sunday by Paul Bérenger, Rajesh Bhagwan and Ajay Gunness to the effect that the “MMM for the next government”… without saying more.
Is it to reassure activists with regard to the erosion of his electorate, or what else? Obviously. The last time the MMM was in government dates back to 2000-2005.
One of the major reasons for defections within the party is precisely this desire to feel in power – with the ringing prebends attached to it. Unfortunately, there is no longer much room for this idealism that prevailed in the 70s in the hyper-materialistic society of today’s Mauritius.
There is also in these affirmations the need to keep hope among coaltar activists and send them a signal that their struggles and sacrifices will not be in vain.
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