Moving beyond cynicism

Ultimately Mr. Showkutally Soodhun has made it. Since Tuesday evening, he is the Acting Prime Minister in the absence of both the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and External Communications Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval. Some political pundits had apprehended the actingship of Mr. Showkutally Soodhun simply because there had been lots of gnashing of teeth when Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval was the Acting Prime Minister. Mr. Soodhun had severely criticized Mr. Duval for a petty story of a banner put up by the PMSD to wish Muslims a Happy Eid-Ul-Fitr. However, later they patched up and this unfortunate incident was shelved. But the grapevine has it that Mr. Soodhun was deprived of the opportunity of his first actingship as Prime Minister because Mr. Duval stayed in the country. [row custom_class=""][/row] The fact that Mr. Soodhun is the Acting Prime Minister till Saturday carries a highly symbolic message. First, he hails from a modest family and he has very patiently climbed the ladder. Second, he himself attributes his success to his loyalty and his sincerity. In fact, Mr. Soodhun has been very faithful not only to the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM) but also to the Jugnauth family, more precisely Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Lady Sarojni Jugnauth and Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, the current leader of the MSM. After the defeat of the MSM/RMM Alliance at the general elections held on 20 December,1995, Mr. Soodhun formed part of the very few faithful ones who strongly believed in a revival of the MSM and in a political comeback of Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The latter had seriously thought about quitting politics and leaving the leadership of the party to Mrs Sheila Bappoo. The then president of the MSM Mr. Karl Offmann and Mr. Soodhun were among those who convinced Sir Anerood Jugnauth to change his mind. Later a deceived Mrs.Bappoo and Mr. Rama Sithanen quitted the MSM. That enabled Mr. Nando Bodha, who was the assistant secretary general of the MSM to occupy the vacant post of secretary general left by Mrs Bappoo. When ultimately Sir Anerood Jugnauth decided to stage a comeback on 1 May 1996, the MSM chose  Vacoas as its venue for the political gathering. Obviously the organisation were left in the hands of Mr. Soodhun who chaired the regional committee of the party in constituency number 15 ( La Caverne and Phoenix). Years after years, the MSM held several important political gatherings in Vacoas and the influence of Mr. Soodhun within the party increased considerably. He later became closer to Mr.Pravind  Jugnauth when the latter stood as candidate in Vacoas/Phoenix at municipal elections held in 1996. Some say that Sir Anerood Jugnauth preferred to call off the Fédération MSM/MMM,which had seen daylight after the by-election on 5 April 1998, to doing away with Mr. Soodhun. It is rumoured that the MMM had urged that Mr. Soodhun be sidelined. This Wednesday, a proud Mr. Soodhun addressed an MSM gathering at Bel Air Rivière Sèche, boasted of his achievements during a single day, “more than what Dr. Ramgoolam has accomplished in a year”. The presence of the MSM in constituency number 10 (Montagne Blanche and Grand River South East) had become an urgency because of the sudden interest of the leader of the Labour Party Dr. Navin Ramgoolam for this constituency. On 20 September last, the Labour Party organized a gathering in Kewal Nagar to commemorate the 115 birth anniversary of Sir Seeewoosagur Ramgoolam. Earlier on Sunday 30 August last, Dr. Ramgoolam had participated in the laying foundation of a Hindu temple in Sebastopol where he was apparently warmly welcomed. But why constituency number 10? It would appear that the MSM MP Mr. Sudhir Sesungkur could face some legal problems. Others claim that the Labour Party is trying to lure him away from the MSM, thus paving the way for Dr Ramgoolam, in the event of a by-election. On Sunday, the MMM held a gathering at the Octave Wiehe Auditorium in Réduit to mark the 46 anniversary of its foundation. The leader of the MMM Mr. Paul Bérenger indeed surprised everybody when he stated in no uncertain terms that the defeat of the Labour /MMM Alliance (Alliance de l’Unité et de la Modernité) is the best thing that has happened to the country! According to Mr. Bérenger, if that alliance had won the December 2014 general election but without a three-quarter majority in Parliament, Dr. Ramgoolam would have delayed the project of the second Republic while staying as Prime Minister as long as possible. “Without this defeat, we would not have known anything about the coffers of  Navin Ramgoolam”, said a candid Mr. Bérenger, who happens to be the neighbor of Dr. Ramgoolam. Meanwhile although public disillusionment with the Lepep Alliance government is becoming more and more apparent, some people still cling to the hope that things might eventually change. A quick look at a few indicators depicts that things are not so bright. For instance, economic growth has been revised to 3,6 % while the number of unemployed is expected to rise to 46 500 this year. I is worth noting that 19700 unemployed, out of the total of 46 500 unemployed are aged less than 25 years. On the other hand Mauritius has lost seven places in the Global Competitiveness Report 2015 recently published by the World Economic Forum. The only positive economic news this week is that Mauritius is a well sought-after destination for luxury properties. Our collegue Mr. Jugdish Joypaul made a very hard-hitting comment on Radio Plus the other day. Referring to the road accident at Forbach on Saturday 19 September last during which the Shamloll couple was killed, Mr. Joypaul described how the two different lifestyles within the same society clash at one point of time and how tragic its consequences can be. On the one hand, the couple was leaving home to go to work while on the other hand, a group of probably well-off youngsters were having fun, practicing rally on the road. Probably two news items have gone unnoticed or few persons have found the common denominator between the two articles published in the press. The first one appeared in Le Matinal on Thursday 24 September last and had to do with the import of the hundredth Porsche in Mauritius.  The other article was published in Le Mauricien on Monday 28 september 2015 and highlighted the  fact that between 10,000 and 12,000 households in Mauritius live in poverty. These figures were revealed by the Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment Mr. Prithvirajsing Roopun who was participating  in a workshop on the elaboration of a Marshall Plan. These figures are contained in the Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. We also learn from the same article that 12 000 are registered on the Social Register of the Social Security and the NEF. In clear, it means that the gap between the rich and the poor is further enlarging. The real specter is when the lifestyles of both social classes will conflict, which has already started!