National Assembly resumes its sessions on Tuesday 27 March

The Mauritius National Assembly was adjourned on 15 December 2017. It resumes its activities on Tuesday 27 March. During that last sitting, two Bills were presented and voted: The Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Bill and the National Flag (Amendment) Bill.

A motion was also presented by the first member of Beau Bassin\Petite Rivière, Rajesh Bhagwan, deploring and condemning the “unbecoming behavior of the third member of Montagne Blanche and Grand River South East on the alleged sending of indecent photographs from a mobile phone whilst in the precinct of the Assembly at a time when the Assembly was sitting, thereby offending the dignity of the House.” Since 15 December 2017, many extra parliamentary events took place; some members urged for an emergency reopening to discuss urgent public affairs.

Arvin Boolell

Next Tuesday, Dr Arvin Boolell will be taking his oath as a new Member of Parliament after his election in Constituency No 18 in November 2017, replacing Roshi Bhadain who resigned from his post and presented himself again but was not returned.

After his election, the media announced the possibility for Dr Boolell to be the next leader of the Opposition but the latter dismissed this as a rumor. He seems to be more interested at reorganizing the Labour Party, which met with a crushing defeat during the 2014 general elections.

Dr Boolell will reinforce the small group of four Labourites in Parliament including Ritesh Ramful, Ezra Jhuboo, Osman Mohamed and Shakeel Mohamed. The latter even announced that he will present a motion against the State House involvement in the Sobrinho affair but later withdrew his intention when his father Yusuf Mohamed proclaimed publicly that he had the intention to defend the President of the Republic.

Reza Uteem, MMM MP of the Constituency No 2, has tabled a motion requesting the Speaker to treat it in priority, as it concerns Alvaro Sobrinho, the Angolan businessman who is at the source of the troubles encountered by the President of the Republic forcing her to resign this Friday 23 March.

Rajesh Bhagwan, one of the leading figures of the MMM in Parliament to put questions to government, is mostly concerned with the cases of Youshreen Choomka and Vijaya Samputh on foreign missions for Ministers and the introduction of Creole language in Parliament.

Ritesh Ramful of the Labour Party puts his question on the billions of rupees offered by the Indian government and wants to have a breakdown on how the money will be spent; Danielle Selvon is interested on Agaléga and Kavi Ramano on David Gaiqui, who was pictured naked and tied to a chair in the Curepipe Police Station.

The Chief Whip, Bobby Hurreeram, declared that the “Government is set and determined and all our Members are fully prepared for Parliament to resume on 27 March 2018. We have recently engaged in the celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the Independence and we are now geared up to make our country greater again through our active participation at the National Assembly where key policies, strategies and important issues are discussed and debated.

In 2017, the first sitting of the National Assembly was held on 28 March and marked by the launching of the streaming of the proceedings of the House on the internet. Throughout 2017, the proceedings of the House have been accessible live and on Video on Demand on the Parliament TV portal. This is indeed another landmark in the history of Parliamentary democracy following the live broadcasting of the proceedings of the House on television through the Parliament TV Channel of the National Assembly and on radio in 2016. 

At the adjournment of the National Assembly on 15 December 2017, there have had 32 sittings. Some 24 Bills have been introduced by Government, out of which 23 have been passed. The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of certain Conventional Weapons, which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects Bill, remains to be passed. 

It should be noted that in 2017, Government replied to 752 Parliamentary Questions requiring Oral Answers, leaving out the Supplementary questions from both sides of the House, and eight requiring Written Answers. Government also replied to 23 Private Notice Questions and fielded several queries during the Committee of Supply for the Appropriation (2017-2018) Bill.

Regarding the questions for which written answers are still pending, Government and the various public departments are making every effort to answer these Parliamentary Questions. However, as they call for accurate and detailed information, it takes time to collect, compile and/or tabulate these data. Moreover, there is information which cannot be communicated because of their sensitivity or they may cause prejudice to national security. One should furthermore note that some questions referring to parastatal bodies and institutions have to obtain approval and consent from the Board or Council of the organisation before disclosing any relevant information.”