Arshaad
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| Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:40 am What does Berenger want? |
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When he was in government either as deputy Prime Minister or as Prime Minister, Paul Berenger oversaw a number of scandalous affairs that was besetting his government but he always brushed reality aside. He lashed at the Air Mauritius affair and he described the notebook of Gerad Tyack a carnet la boutique; he dismantled ECO and revoked its director when an investigation had been initiated on his preferred candidate for the top job at the WTO; he made sure that the MCB/NPF affair that turned out to be a mega scandal should not be made public or reported to the police before days had gone by and he always refused to make the N’Tan report public. Now he has lost all his bearings with the Gunness case.
The man is now out to pillory the Board members of ICAC and is asking for the resignation of its directors. At times we may legitimately ask ourselves whether corruption is a scourge that Paul Berenger is prepared to combat in a serious manner. Paul Berenger should be very cautious when he bashes institutions. The Privy Council’s decison is still before the courts and he may well find himself in the box…
Now that Paul Berenger is not in power and, therefore, cannot dictate his will to ICAC/II nor bring in statutory amendments to revoke anybody, he is having cold sweats along his spine. In addition to one of his darling friends being investigated, the spectre of the BPML is also hanging dangerously over the heads of several MMM members. This is why he is already brainwashing public opinion that the report on the BPML is a political manipulation and is an attempt to cast slur on honest people. We agree that honesty and integrity must be presumed just as presumption of innocence but Paul Berenger should let the law follow its course and not meddle in the investigation that is now in the hands of the police and ICAC/II.
His ranting is not limited to institution bashing. Fully conscious that he has already reached the twilight of his political career, he is desperately trying to convince the population that the MMM is the strongest party of Mauritius and that any party that wants an alliance with the MMM should bear that in mind. Paul Berenger knows that he would never return to power as Prime Minister ever again short of a miracle and in the cruel world of politics where unscrupulous action is the master word miracles never happen. Paul Berenger also knows that the chances of survival of the MMM either in the short term or in the long term is not to go it solo.
He has to ensure that his party is linked to a party that has broad based support in the rural areas. Two parties can bring him that guarantee: the Labour Party, and to a lesser extent the MSM. Right now the door of the Labour Party is closed to him and the only alternative is the MSM. Pravind Jugnauth has already distanced himself from the MMM and this poses a real dilemma for Paul Berenger. Since there are some in the MSM who still want to keep a link with the MMM, even though it may be a suicidal link politically, both for the MMM and the MSM, Paul Berenger is trying hard to devise a strategy to force the MMM well-wishers in the MSM to rally round the MMM.
Sine he has been thrown back in the Opposition, all that he does is to criticize his opponents and pour insults and abuse on them. Paul Berenger started his political career on the platform of illegal strikes and illegal demonstrations. In 1969 he launched a mammoth demonstration against the visit of Princess Alexandra on the ground that she was the wife of the man who had a substantial shareholding in Lonhro. In the eyes of the so-called extreme leftist guy that Paul Berenger held himself to be, Lonhro was the quintessence symbol of right-wing policies whose aim was to break the back of the working class.
In the true philosophy of the communists he started a national campaign, which consisted in mobilizing the working class from all sectors and more particularly from sensitive sectors like the port, transport and the sugar industry. His message was to give up working as their toil and labour were benefiting the rich who were supporting the right-wing government of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam helped by Sir Claude Noel, Rogers, Sir Gaetan Duval, Sir Satcam Boolell and South Africa that was still under the apartheid regime. In that endeavour, Paul Berenger succeeded very well. He managed to galvanize the workers who willingly and gladly went on strike on the flimsiest of pretext to express their discontent against the regime of SSR and Sir Gaetan Duval.
From one wild cat strike to another, he managed to destroy the economy of the country and when he became Minister of Finance in 1982 after the sweeping victory of the MMM-PSM he succeeded in selling two hotels to that same South Africa that he had been so critical of when he was on the campaign trail lashing at the right-wingers. His next move was to make a handsome concession of 57 million rupees to that same sugar sector that he had accused of breaking the back of workers. As he was bereft of imagination, the same imagination that he is asking us his countrymen to display today, he resigned from the government. He lost the elections of 1983 that Sir Anerood Jugnauth won as the leader of the newly created MSM with the massive support of the Labour Party that has become the bête noire of Paul Berenger just as ICAC II.
When Paul Berenger lost the 2005 elections he deliberately refused to admit that it was due to the disastrous manner in which he managed the country. After putting the blame on communal factors that his adversaries exploited because he is not a Hindu, he put the blame on Pravind Jugnauth. Pravind Jugnauth is his worst enemy today but for how long time will tell. Yet it was the same Paul Berenger who professed a sincere love for Pravind Jugnauth, a man who according to him deserved to be and would be Prime Minister in 2008 if the MMM-MSM had won the elections in July 2005. A sample of his love for Pravind Jugnauth can be found in the following statement Paul Berenger made when he was Prime Minister: “La solidarité consolidée avec le temps grâce au leadership de l’alliance avec Paul Bérenger et Pravind Jugnauth. Nous koz ène langaz de vérité à la population, nou assume nous responsabilité et nous énan à coeur l’intérêt de la population et assure zotte l’avenir. Nous fine faire sacrifices comme ène gouvernement responsable, nous prêt pou relève les défis. Nous éna le leadership et la compétence pour relève les défis.” Where has that love gone?
Paul Berenger knows fully well that, without the MSM or the Labour Party, he does stand a chance of coming back to power. The massive defeats of the MMM with its allies at the general elections, the municipal elections and the village elections has left the MMM and the MSM in tatters. He is conscious at least as at present advised that the MSM is against his winning formula that he should be the leader of future MMM-MSM alliance. As Paul Berenger cannot digest the harsh reality of his electoral defeat, he wants to come back to power very quickly. He is even vociferating for fresh elections barely two years after the last ones. This is simply ridiculous. A government is elected for five years and has to stay in function for that period. Only a defeat on a motion of no-confidence or the inability of any member of the Assembly to rally a majority can lead to elections. Paul Berenger should realize that there are other priorities than perennial elections or electoral campaigns.
In the meantime, the government caravan is following its course. Navin Ramgoolam is proving to be a most cunning political strategist. He is just watching the disarray of the Opposition and their daily bickering. He is just taking bold measures to better our lot while the MMM Opposition are bent on destroying our institutions and on grabbing power. Never in his dreams would Berenger have thought that he would be reduced to mere nothingness on the political scene. He should forget about power and listen to what Arvin Boolell said once Arrete rever camarade.
This article was written by Raja Ratnam. |
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