Awaiting the arrival of Lokpal

The affidavit sworn at the Supreme Court on Wednesday by barrister Me. Akil Bissessur is bound to make  some waves for obvious reasons. It constitutes the first strong frontal attack against the Prime Minister and leader of the Lepep Alliance, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, since the December 2014 general elections.   Money and politics do not mix well these days, especially since the “opération néttoyage” (cleaning operation) started as soon as the Lepep Alliance government was in place. And when Me. Bissessur comes forward with such a legal move, it does bring some doubts in the mind of the public. In clear, the lawyer, who has retained the services of Me. Yousouf Mohamed, SC., and Me. Pazhany Rangasamy (attorney-at-law), is praying the court to freeze the payment of a monthly salary to the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, pending a decision of the court. Me. Bissessur argues that “payment of the current basic monthly salary of Rs 282,000, as personal emoluments , to Prime Minister, constitutes “remunerative employment” and is therefore contrary to the law , i.e, Section 4 (2) of the President Emoluments and Pension Act”. According to Me. Bissessur, ever since his resignation as President of the Republic on 31 March, 2012, Sir Anerood Jugnauth has been paid a monthly pension amounting to Rs 237,400, which he has continued to draw after he became Prime Minister in December, 2014 and stated “earning” a monthly salary and other benefits in this capacity. The case will be brought forward “pro forma” before Chief Justice Mr. Keshoe Parsad Matadeen on Monday. Although Me. Bissessur is insisting that it is in his capacity as a citizen of Mauritius and as a taxpayer that he is taking this initiative,it goes without saying that it looks very much like a counter-attack in the wake of the numerous police actions against the former Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, Dr. Navin Ramgoolam. Me. Bissessur, argues in his affidavit, that the payment of a monthly salary to Sir Anerood Jugnauth, in his capacity as Prime Minister is in violation of “his legitimate expectation and is manifestly against the law of the land, wrong, unfair and irrational in the circumstances”? Already, we should expect a legal battle on the technicalities of words like “emoluments”, as this was in the case of the Director General of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) v/s Chettiar and others. The Law Lords sitting on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council beautifully interpreted section 4 of the President’s Emoluments and Pension Act 1992 (PEPA). Incidentally, in the case of Me. Bissessur v/s Sir Anerood Jugnauth, reference is made to the same section of the PEPA. Somebody with a legal background and a remarkable political tract record like Sir Anerood Jugnauth must have measured the consequences of benefitting from both a pension and a remuneration, unless this is not accurate at all. So far, Sir Anerood Jugnauth has not given any explanation on the matter although Dr Arvin Boolell did raise the issue sometime back. In fact, he was the first person to uncover this “hidden issue”. To make matters worse, press articles published during the week-end and at the beginning of the week tend to indicate that relations between the MSM and its partner, the PMSD, are difficult while internal problems are undermining the MSM. The first article was published in Week-End on 14 February, 2016 and was titled “les relations entre le MSM et le PMSD : une cohabitation qui n’a jamais été facile” (relations between the MSM and the PMSD: a cohabitation that was never easy). The intro of the article itself gives us an indication of the message that the author wanted to drive home: that things are taking an ugly turn between the MSM and the PMSD. As such, it would be the sacking of Mr. Jean Max Baya as Advisor on Information Matters at the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare , headed by Mrs Aurore Perraud (a PMSD MP) only two weeks after his nomination which caused further uneasiness between the MSM and the PMSD. According to the person who penned the article, the PMSD has tried to minimize the incident but in private the leader of the PMSD (who is the current Deputy Prime Minister and number two of the government) Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval has expressed his sorrow regarding how the ex-press attaché (Mr. Baya) of his former colleagues namely late Dr.James Burty David, Mr. Hervé Aimée and Mr. Deva Virahsawmy has been treated, not to say mistreated. Obviously, the author of the article enumerates a series of incidents which have occurred recently and in the past (when late Sir Gaëtan Duval was the leader of the party). It would appear that the fact that the leader of the MSM Mr. Pravind Jugnauth has had to step down in the context of his condemnation by the Intermediate Court in the MedPoint case that has given rise to some ambition within the ranks of the PMSD. They feel that their leader could accede to the post of Prime Minister in the event that Sir Anerood Jugnauth retires from active politics and in case Mr. Pravind Jugnauth cannot reintegrate the cabinet of ministers, if ever he loses his appeal and has to have resort to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. But that is very farfetched. If things were so bad between the two partners, the MSM and the PMSD, would the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth leave the country for two weeks while conferring the responsibility of running the government to Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval? Although Mr. Duval is the number two of the government and is legitimately the one to replace the Prime Minister during his absence, Sir Anerood Jugnauth could have postponed his visit until things get better. But it does not seem to be the case. Unless there are extremely serious issues which both parties have very ably tried to hide. The second article titled “Parfum de Discorde” (a Perfume of Disagreement) was published in L’Express, issue of Monday 15 February 2016. According to the author of the article, tension had risen at a given point of time at the meeting of the most recent politburo held on Saturday last, Mr. Roshi Bhadain was brought to his knees by his leader Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, Mr. Soodhun complained from lack of cooperation from his collegues while Mr. Raj Dayal was criticized for his behavior during the torrential rains on Wednesday 10 February, 2016. Apparently, MP Mr. Sudesh Rughoobur blasted the Disaster Management Committee. Two ministers, namely Mr Mahen Seeruttun amd Mr. Yogida Sawminaden have so far denied that things are bad within the MSM and the Lepep Alliance Government. Meanwhile, in the opposition, the two main political parties are trying to position themselves. The Mauritius Labour Party is organizing its annual congress to mark its 80th anniversary. Needless to say that they will try to pull a good crowd to make their presence felt. Some say that the party is gradually gathering momentum while others maintain that it is too early to talk about Labour revival. Now, Mr. Paul Bérenger has decided to present himself as candidate to the post of Prime Minister at the next general elections. At one point of time, a sharing of power with another prominent member of the MMM was envisaged but that option seems to have been ruled out. In a lengthy interview published in L’Express, on Thursday,the leader of the MMM has commented on a vast array of subjects ranging from the next alliances the MMM is planning, the replacement of Mr. Bérenger and the situation within the government. One thing appears to be clear: Mr. Bérenger will not share the stage with Dr. Ramgoolam so soon. This brings us to our comrade Mr. Dev Virahsawmy. We respect his decision to join the Labour Party. We also share his views that the Labour Party has an important role to play in preparing an alternative to the present government. However we feel that he should have never used the word “langouti” ( a loin cloth worn by Indians) to refer to Hindus. “Bérenger likes to hide behind “langouti”. Bérenger is obsessed with “langouti”, said an almost hysteric Dev. The word “langouti” used in this context is derogatory and causes prejudice to the descendants of the Indian immigrants. It has also serious casteist implications and revives the way some suffering from superiority complex look down on others hailing from some specific parts of India. Remember how Mr. Sithanen qualified Dr Ramgoolam in Quatre Bornes after he was sidelined prior to the 2010 general elections. But the worst part of Mr. Virahsawmy’s rhetoric is when he tried miserably to condone Dr. Ramgoolam’s love for women. It is surprising that there has not been any reaction from Mrs. Loga Virahsawmy (Gender Links) till date. By the way, when we will have our Lokpal here, as it is the case in India? A Lokpal (Sanskrit: lokpala, “caretaker of people”) is an ombudsman the term taken from the sweedon (legal representative) in India. It has jurisdiction over all Members of Parliament and central government employees in cases of corruption. It was formed in 2013 after passing of The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 with amendments in parliament, following movement led by Anna Hazare. It has counterpart in all the states of India called Lokayuktas.