A government as heritage

The political season is in full swing. Sir Anerood Jugnauth has confirmed that his son and current Minister of Finance, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, will be his successor as Prime Minister. 

Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister and leader of the Mauritius Labour Party Dr. Navin Ramgoolam is sparing no expenses in trying to stage a real comeback in politics by holding a public gathering this Sunday (18 September, 2016) in Triolet. 

On the other hand, the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM), led by Mr. Paul Bérenger, is holding a national congress on Sunday 25 September 2016, to mark the 47th anniversary of the foundation of the party.  

CONFUSION LEADS TO CLARITY 

It is amazing how a confusing situation regarding the two versions of the press release on cabinet decisions issued Friday last has led to some clarity, in terms of political strategy that is being devised by those at the helm of power. 

We can humbly state that we were not at all surprised that ultimately Sir Anerood Jugnauth has conceded that he will not complete his mandate as Prime Minister and that the Leader of the MSM Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will be his successor.

On September 1, 2016, we had asked a series of questions pertaining to the ever-changing political situation: “Why has the political situation changed so drastically? Only a few days ago, the Leader of the Opposition was finding interesting measures in the Budget 2016/2017 and the Prime Minister was complimenting the Leader of the Opposition for his compliments. So much so that some were referring to an MSM/MMM alliance as being imminent. Is it because Mr. Pravind Jugnauth could step in as Prime Minister earlier than scheduled that is causing so much irritation?”. 

We should be clear about one very important aspect of this issue. The Prime Minister did not call a press conference to announce his early retirement and his subsequent replacement by Mr. Pravind Jugnauth. He revealed these while replying to questions from the media. Probably he was waiting for the right time to do so or simply nobody felt that the population should be informed about such important decisions.

MIXED FEELINGS

The succession issue has triggered mixed feelings. First, those who had anticipated some sort of resistance from the leader of the PMSD and current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval were wrong. Mr. Duval has stated in no uncertain terms that he was fully aware of this possibility which he supports. The vice Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Mr. Ivan Collendavelloo has also expressed the same support. 

“The succession issue has triggered mixed feelings. First, those who had anticipated some sort of resistance from the leader of the PMSD and current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval were wrong. Mr. Duval has stated in no uncertain terms that he was fully aware of this possibility which he supports."

If there seems to be unanimity within the ranks of Lepep Alliance Government, the outcry stems mainly from the opposition which finds indignation in the way that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth is being made to succeed to his illustrious father. However, some members of the opposition, mainly law practitioners, were honest enough to recognize that legally Pravind Jugnauth can accede to the post of  Prime Minister as per provisions of the Constitution. 

We wonder how Me. Penny Hack, an otherwise sharp lawyer, has come up with an interpretation of the Constitution of Mauritius, whereby he insists that in the event that Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigns as Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval should be appointed as Prime Minister. This interpretation simply does not stand as the procedure is such that the Prime Minister not only resigns but presents the resignation of the entire cabinet of ministers, pending the appointment of a new Prime Minister. Such was the case in 2003, prior to the swearing-in of Mr.  Paul Bérenger as Prime Minister. 

In clear, it would mean that once Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigns as Prime Minister, Mr. Duval also will no longer be the Deputy Prime Minister until the new government is formed.   

The leader of the Mouvement Patriotique (MP) Mr. Alan Ganoo is one of the politicians who gave a frank interpretation of  provisions of the Constitution, more precisely section 59 (3), whereby it is stated that “The President, acting in his own deliberate judgment, shall appoint as Prime Minister the member of the Assembly who appears to him best able to command the support of the majority of the members of the Assembly”.      

Obviously other Constitutional experts insist that this section of the Constitution should be read along with other sections and sub-sections.  

The opponents to the succession of Pravind Jugnauth as Prime Minister do have a strong argument; that the leader of the MSM does not have popular plebiscite to accede to the post. They argue that at no time during the electoral campaign in 2014, voters were told that PRAVIND Jugnauth would succeed his father, unlike in 2000 when voters were told that in 2003 Mr. Paul Bérenger would become the Prime Minister. 

We recently came to know that the other leaders of the Lepep Alliance were aware of this arrangement. Also, the fact that Pravind Jugnauth is the son of Sir Anerood Jugnauth, gives the impression that Jugnauth junior is inheriting the post, somehow institutionalizing dynastic politics. 

It would appear that, as we had announced earlier, that Pravind Jugnauth could accede to the post of Prime Minister before the end of this year.    

CONFUSION CAUSED BY TWO VERSIONS 

Coming back to the confusion caused by the two versions of the press release containing the main decisions of the cabinet, we learnt from the press conference of the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth on Monday that it was none other than Minister Roshi Bhadain who contacted the clerk to the cabinet Mr. Yanduth Gaonjur to enquire why Heritage City was not mentioned.

According to the Prime Minister the use of the verb “revived” was wrong. In fact “reconsider” should have been used. The decision was that a technical committee was set up to relook into the Heritage City Project to see if it could be reconsidered.

Is Mr. Bhadain authorized to urge for the amendment of  a press release pertaining to cabinet decisions, without consultations with the Prime Minister? For Mr. Bhadain, the cabinet decision to reconsider the Heritage City Project is of prime importance because he has lost his luster since the project was shelved. 

The remote tug-of-war between Minister Bhadain and the Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance Mr.Gérard Sanspeur has taken a dramatic turn this week. Three officers of the CCID effected a landing at the residence of Mr.Sanspeur in Quatre Bornes on Thursday morning. Apparently this team led by Police Superintendent Mr.Seeparsad Mannaram acted without informing the responsible officer of the CCID Mr. Devanand Reekoye. The small team could not arrest Mr. Sanspeur because they did not have an arrest warrant. The Police Commissioner has ordered for an enquiry to be carried out on this incident. 

It must be noted that Minister Bhadain had given a statement at the CCID against Mr. Sanspeur with regards to the Heritage City Project on August 18 last.  

Interestingly enough, this unsuccessful attempt to arrest Mr. Sanspeur took place during the absence of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth from the country. Some say that Mr. Sanspeur has been dropped by Mr. Jugnauth, as he does not form part of the Mauritian delegation to India. Lawyer Kailash Trilochun is still very much in the news: he gave a statement to the CCID, against Jugnauth, senior and junior. 

Last but not least. The government was utterly wrong in maintaining its decision, with some nuances though, with respect to the refund of SC and HSC fees. In doing so, it has facilitated the emergence of a common platform uniting students, parents, teachers, rectors and school managers. Absence of students from school should have been dealt with separately.