l'express du 17/09/2005
It is so easy to tell when someone has lost an argument; his selective choice of only one area of the battleground for his counterattack whilst ignoring completely his most vulnerable position means that he has lost the overall battle before a single shot has been fired. In these situations, discretion is infinitely preferable to a false sense of valour and with hindsight comes the realisation that silence would have been by far the better option than trying to defend the indefensible.
The interview in wednesday's l'express of Jean-Mée Desveaux showed the ex-super conseiller in brilliantly combative form; his analysis of our country's precarious situation was excellent and thankfully lacked the generalised, trite, nonsensical language that our politicians are so fond of. He gave a detailed but very careful account of how the least qualified of the candidates managed to become the head of the Mauritius Revenue Authority; he described the candidate as the cousin of the Deputy Prime Minister and whose highest academic qualification apparently was the humble School Certificate. The bait was set and Pravind Jugnauth greedily gobbled it, hook, line, and sinker! Jugnauth's riposte was pathetic to say the least and simply entailed the assertion that although they are related, he and Maya Hanoomanjee are not cousins.
That's all right then! We can now all sleep soundly and not worry our tired little heads about whether this is another case of nepotism and of placing relatives in positions of authority that they are singularly ill-qualified to occupy. But what about the school certificate bit? Not one word from Pravind Jugnauth despite his reported state of shock and indignation. He still has not learned the simple fact that you can argue about opinions and rant and rave about imagined insults and injustices, but facts always speak for themselves. Perhaps Pravind Jugnauth will now tell us why Bert Cunningham and the Head of Interpol were removed from the short list of candidates and why Maya Hanoomanjee was deemed to be far better than them?
I have been asking our politicians for months now to give an honest appraisal of our dire economic situation and to act accordingly. I criticised Ramgoolam after he made the rash promise on 1st May to exclude everyone earning less than Rs 25,000 per month from income tax; I said then that that promise was unsustainable and would lead us to bankruptcy. Desveaux is arguing the same point but I think he is being naively optimistic if he believes that the opposition will not, in his own words, rub your (Ramgoolam's) nose in it if you renege on the tax promise.
Since he came out of his self imposed purdah following his defeat at the general elections, Jugnauth has done nothing (apart from denying that Maya Hanoomanjee is his cousin!) but shout about the government breaking its promise on tax and Berenger has been making similarly strident noises.
Now, I fully understand that the role of the opposition is to oppose the government and to show it in a bad light whenever possible. But we are in a state of economic emergency, as Berenger kept reminding us when he was Prime Minister, and all our politicians need to now put into practice the word that they are fond of using but rarely show any signs of : PATRIOTISM. If they really love this country as much as they say, they should get rid of that fiscal straight jacket and allow the country to breathe deeply in order to meet the dangerous times ahead. Can you see our politicians doing it? This is highly unlikely as we have been lumbered with the biggest bunch of megalomaniacs on God's earth who will do anything to gain power and who take it in turn every five years to inflict their own brand of rape and pillage of the national coffers.
«It is no use reducing the cabinet by a few members if you do not then have the will to ensure that those appointed to ministerial positions have the ability to do the job properly, irrespective of stupid ethnic considerations»
Rama Sithanen is right to highlight tourism as the engine for our economic prosperity. But our situation is too alarming and mere tinkering with the issues, as he did recently, is unlikely to achieve great progress. Why would any European want to come to paradise island when he can get a much cheaper package to other beautiful havens? A 14-day all inclusive holiday in a four or five star hotel in Goa, Thailand, Penang, Fiji, the West Indies, etc., currently costs half the price of a similar one in Mauritius. We may have the nicest beaches in the world and our satini bombli grillé may taste divine, but I think most people will be tempted to go elsewhere for half the price. And who was the genius who spent vast amounts of money to advertise Air Mauritius at Blackburn Rovers football ground? Didn't he realise that it is the most boring team with possibly the poorest supporters in England and its matches are hardly ever shown on national TV?
Desveaux's trenchant views on the sugar industry destroy the nasty, racist views about him that were scandalously peddled by the Alliance sociale during the electoral campaign. Let us see now whether those who bored us rigid about the five families and the oligarchy can come up with better and more challenging ideas to reform that industry. His comments on the merits of an inheritance tax deserve careful analysis by a government in urgent need of replenishing its finances. A government that claims to put people first can ensure that rich people who spend a lifetime evading taxes pay their fiscal duties to the nation when they die.
Desveaux's perspicacious analysis of the fundamental weaknesses of our society is at its best when he decries the lack of desire to put the right people in the right jobs and the destructive obsession to insist on «jobs for the boys» after every election. It is no use reducing the cabinet by a few members if you do not then have the will to ensure that those appointed to ministerial positions have the ability to do the job properly, irrespective of stupid ethnic considerations.
The cheer leaders
So far, the only people who appear to have mastered their briefs are Ramgoolam, Rama Valayden, Satish Faugoo, Asraf Dullul, Indira Seeburn, Arvin Boolell, and James Burty David. Rama Sithanen has been unusually quiet and his lack of action regarding the dramatic increase in the price of oil shows amazing complacency and fiscal irresponsibility. The rest of the cabinet has not exactly shaken the world and some of the new ones give the impression of rabbits caught in the glare of the headlights.
The tragedy of Mauritian politics has always been the concentration of too much power in the hands of the Prime Minister, which hardly leaves any room for any other minister to use his initiative and hopefully address the many problems that we face in a constructive manner. It also allows the most incompetent people imaginable to hide away in their ministerial limousines and do nothing whilst enjoying the trappings of ministerial power and privileges. They are reduced to the role of cheer leaders for the Prime Minister and follow him around like lap dogs. Can anyone remember anything at all that ex-ministers like Yerrigadoo, Bachoo, Gayan, Khushiram, Sylvio Michel, the ex-minister of Justice whose name always escapes me beacuse I cannot remember anything that he achieved, Putten, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, Arianne Navarre-Marie, Soodhun, etc. achieved during the last five years? And what about smiler Choonee during his two separate tenures of office? Cuttaree spent a huge amount of public money travelling the world whilst achieving nothing of intrinsic value for the country and his gruesome combination with Bérenger in the diplomatic arena is notable for one dubious achievement: the almost complete breakdown in diplomatic relation with Great Britain, the country that takes the largest proportion of our exports.
To benefit citizens
The only weakness in the interview was Desveaux's reluctance to attack the sacred cow of public expenditure; in particular, I cannot understand the casual acceptance by everyone that duty free cars, numerous travels abroad, huge salaries that are morally repugnant, extravagant expenses/entertainment allowances that have turned servi mo pays into unashamed servi moi, 13th month salary for 12 months work, etc are rights that people are entitled to regardless of the national economic situation. The Lord Mayors of our capital city have wasted 4 million rupees on 30 «missions» abroad in the last four years and I, for one, would welcome any of these people to explain and show how these travels have benefitted the citizens of Port-Louis. Rs 4 million would have provided 20 houses of the most basic type to accommodate some of the homeless people who we walk away from in case their misery and misfortune is contagious. 30 «missions» equal roughly Rs 1 million in air fares, which means that the remaining Rs 3 millions went on personal expenses for these patriots. Nice job if you can get it!
Pravind Jugnauth gives the impression that he desperately wants prices to rise and wrongly equates this eventuality with his return to popular appeal. He is wrong. He would gain greater respect from the population if he adopts a more responsible attitude. The role of the opposition is not merely to oppose the government of the day. In times of economic emergency, he should replace criticism at any cost with constructive criticism and the formulation of new ideas to move the country forward. He should perhaps read Desveaux's interview again and adopt the latter's constructive approach to finding ways to drag us from the financial quagmire that the ex-Minister of Finance is largely responsible for.
R.A.J.
