Arvin Boolell: “No reason for Ramgoolam to step down”

Last week, the Labour Party held a rally in Riviere du Rempart and the masses were back. With recent political turmoils the eventuality of by-elections have been brandished. We met with Labour stalwart Dr Arvin Boolell to talk about the future of the party and developments on the political landscape. What is your state of mind Dr Boolell? I am worried! More specifically? About what is happening in the global business sector. I am worried for the youth who work in that sector. We [as a country] are doing irreversible things. For example, the Double Taxation Agreement with India. The way we have mishandled this issue saddens me as we did accomplish some work. It is unfortunate that there was no endurance of State on such an important issue. Now, jobs are at risk. We are depleting the DTAA of its essence. Are you claiming there will be spillover effects? The IMF says there are risks of spillover in the domestic financial sector because of linkages. With prevailing uncertainties, Mauritius might witness more foreign divestments. This poses serious challenges to the economy. We are heading towards an implosion. Is it a political or an economic implosion? Both! We would first have a political implosion for obvious reasons. The population is now saying there is no governance, no leadership. These are very worrying signs! Trade unions are calling for go-slows. How could these lead to an implosion? Nowadays, swing voters comprise mostly of youngsters. Their hopes have vaporised because electoral promises are not being honoured. Within the private sector, only real estate developers are benefiting – mainly those investing in smart cities – thanks to fiscal exemptions. SMEs are having cash flow problems. They promised Rs 10 billion but nothing has been done... Let’s get to something different now. What is your reading of the BAI saga? The IMF has condemned the government for its handling of the BAI case. We are all aware there were shortcomings at BAI. In short, it was a wilful and deliberate action. On what basis do you claim it was deliberate? It was politically motivated. I stress on that point. There was a perceived proximity between him and Navin Ramgoolam. However, this “proximity” was also with other political leaders. Why did the previous government not take any actions? Decisions were taken, BAI was scaling down its related-party investments. I acknowledge the FSC reacted tardily.  You are shifting the blame on institutions! No. I am not blaming them. I refer to declarations of the former governor of the Bank of Mauritius, when he talked about banksters. What I blame this government for, is that corrective measures were being implemented and instead of consolidating those, they nationalised the conglomerate. Who will bell the cat over the next five years? How about the political implosion? There is growing mistrust within government and Cabinet. And that did not exist under Ramgoolam? No, no, no. On that point I have to stress that there was no such thing under Ramgoolam. He was a leader, with governance. You do not mean good governance... I mean governance in terms of leadership. Make no mistake about it. We did not have absolute power. There were countervailing powers. The press always took us to task. The grand finale was when voters sanctioned us. We learned our lessons. However, people claim it is old wine in new bottle... No. You have to understand, a political party is not a company which hands out retirement plans. We are opening up to the youth and women. Labour is back on the field. We will be in Lallmatie. We now hold rallies which we did not do some time ago. Labour can now step out of its hibernation following its defeat? We have taken stock of our defeat, we did our mea culpa and learned our lessons to reconcile with the electorate. The driving force of the electorate is the youth. There are three key factors which political parties cannot do away with: young voters, female voters and technology. You still see the same faces. Let me explain. Our press conferences are a blend where all our MPs are present. During our next convention, we will have increased representation, in terms of youth, women etc. We also need people of experience as well as energetic youth. You are one of the most popular politicians. Yet, you are confined to second position. I am not. The priority of the moment is to answer expectations of the population. They feel deceived and you can sense it. I am asking for early elections. People say they have been disappointed and this government must go. Despite their sour remarks, people now regret doing away with Labour. The same Labour which was voted out last time? No. Wherever we go, people say they regret not having Labour party stalwarts in parliament. Else, there would have been checks and balances. They regret having given a three-quarter majority. A year ago, people would never have said that. Now people say: ‘In spite of it all, we were better with Labour.’ Do you guarantee that if ever Labour comes back, there won’t be any Second Republic? I guarantee that. It is out of bounds! We need to have a broad demarcation between institutions. If we look at arrests being effected... Are you telling me there were no arbitrary arrests before? No. If ever there was a perception of arbitrary arrests, then there was always a strong reaction from the public. This is what we call democracy. What about the financing of political parties? When we initiated public debate on this issue, other parties stayed put. For me, financing remains the biggest issue confronting political parties. With the Rs 200 million showed in the safes of Ramgoolam? When it forcefully became public disclosure, we asked all political parties to publish their finances. No single party did! We need to be honest about political financing. Targeting Labour shows the dishonesty of those who claim to be strong proponents of the politics of good governance. This money belongs to the Labour Party and not the Leader. So you are all the same then? When it comes to financing of political parties, it needs to be regulated, with audited accounts. Disclosure should be mandatory. You did not answer. Are you all the same? Unless the financing of political parties is regulated, there will always be a nexus with the business community. The clarion call for change has become imperative. For God’s sake do not hit only one political party. Will Labour do things differently come the next elections? The turn of events compel us to act differently and do things differently. We were somehow forced to come out in the open. Now, we want all political parties to do the same. You agree with Labour publishing its accounts? We do not need to publish. Its already out there. Will Labour be able to come back while being haunted by scandals? From lessons learnt, we are reconciling with realpolitik, i.e. to be with the people. We are on the upsurge. People who voted against us are now coming back. Should Ramgoolam step down now that there are formal charges against him? No. We have a constitution. He has the support of the party. When will we see Arvin Boolell as leader of the Labour party? There is a time and reason for everything.