Africa-Press – Mauritius. Roshi Badhain has drawn the wrath of the opposition on him following his virulent outings on the age of the leaders of the parliamentary opposition parties.
The leader of the Reform Party did not hesitate to attack head-on the advanced age of these leaders. The outcry was immediate on the side of the supporters of the red-purple-blue alliance.
Posts and memes have multiplied on social networks, and some have even gone to dig up a video where he makes the list of the ‘Shadow Cabinet’, extolling in passing the merits of the same “dinosaurs” that he attacks today as well than their offspring.
But that was when Roshi Badhain was still part of the defunct Alliance of Hope, and he still had hope of being on a ‘front bench’ allowing him to position himself as a future Prime Minister.
It is clear that Roshi Badhain came out of the ‘starting blocks’ much too quickly, fully biting the bait of the early general elections. His attacks, especially against the opposition, have increased in power but in a situation where we are not in an election campaign.
As a result, he finds himself lonely, his makeshift companion Patrick Belcourt keeping himself extremely discreet since Roshi began his virulent outings, struggling to try to keep what little capacity he has left to negotiate a last-minute alliance.
. experience and youth
But the recent releases of RoshiBadhain will have had the merit of emphasizing the question of young people in politics and, in particular, the balance to be found between experience and youth.
It is clear that, from this point of view, the two blocs that will be formed could develop different approaches. PravindJugnauth surprised many in 2019 by ousting some strong MSM heads (like ShowkutallySoodhun) in favor of new, younger candidates.
This bet on the renewal of his team had borne the electoral fruits that we know, but some of these young and new people are today decried, in particular because of the lack of experience and the perception that these same young people did not bring the long-awaited political added value of youth.
Will the MSM keep this strategy of renewing and rejuvenating candidates for the next elections? Let’s say that certain recent memberships and the withdrawal of certain ministers from the media light seem to point in this direction, and that this renewal is a tool that PravindJugnauth will make massive use of since he also has the means.
Opposite, the simple equation of ticket allocation could make renewal difficult. Between the leaders, the parliamentarians who will be reappointed and the offspring, there will not be much room left for new blood.
It should be noted, however, that the PTr is currently pushing its young people onto the radio talk shows and into the field. This strategy was the one adopted by Navin Ramgoolam in 2019, deploying new candidates in a number of constituencies. We all remember what happened when the PTr finalized its alliance with the PMSD.
Is Ramgoolam doing the same thing again, putting forward some potential candidates to go into battle before getting rid of them at the last minute? We will see, but it is interesting to note that young people like Daneshwar Damry and others have been particularly discreet for a while.
Either way, the youth vote will be critically important to mainstream parties in the upcoming elections. This vote is complex and traditional parties have great difficulty understanding what young people want, hence the extremely high abstention rate in the 2019 elections.
Pravind Jugnauth understood this well, which explains his recent outings in schools and his positions on issues dear to young people. He understood that the next elections will be played on three fundamental keyboards: the vote of the residents, the vote of the civil servants and the youth vote.
And, from this point of view, it may well be that the MSM strategy is already well and truly in place. However, it seems to us that young people, currently struck by a state of despair, are waiting for serious and effective solutions to solve the current socio-economic problems.
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