The never-ending wait

Despite the fact that he has been constantly telling the media that becoming the next Prime Minister is not his priority, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth continues to be in the forefront. 

Obviously, these days some sort of a political truce is being observed by the partisans of the Leader of the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM), as the latter is on overseas mission in Brussels, in his capacity as Minister of Finance and Economic Development.        

PLAYING ANOTHER GAME 

There, he is playing another game. The Minister of Finance and his delegation are participating in meetings, held one after the other, with high officials of the European Union. They have the painstaking task of convincing these high officials regarding the efforts made by Mauritius on the issue of cross-border tax evasion and also to consolidate bilateral relations.             

Mr. Pravind Jugnauth is expected to return to Mauritius on Friday but he will stay in the country only during the week-end as on Monday, he will proceed  to China where he will be participating in an international trade exhibition. 

We wonder whether he will again be in the constituencies during the week-end. Probably, he will wait after his return from China to effect the second part of the road.

There are definitely several contradictions in the move of the Minister of Finance. If he has no such ambitions, why has he thrown his hat in the ring? A Minister of Finance is usually more discreet in matters of petty politics. Most of his time is devoted to dialogue with the different socio- economic partners. True it is that his mandates and other voters form part of this pool of partners. It would be extremely perilous for Mr. Pravind Jugnauth to try to make room for both the private sector and voters. There are high risks that all these groups have conflicting interests. 

TIME TO HOLD DIRECT AND FRANK TALKS  

Most importantly, if deep inside Mr. Pravind Jugnauth has the ambition of replacing his father, Sir Anerood Jugnauth as Prime Minister, it is high time that he holds a direct and frank talks with voters. 

Two very senior politicians and ex-politicians, respectively the Leader of the Opposition and of Leader of the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) Mr. Paul Bérenger and former President Mr. Cassam Uteem have made almost similar suggestions. 

Mr. Bérenger has suggested that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth dissolves the Parliament once he is appointed Prime Minister. If Mr. Jugnauth follows his advice, he runs the risk of being the shortest serving Prime Minister of Mauritius after having served very briefly as Leader of the Opposition. This occurred after Mr. Bérenger resigned from this Constitutional post after the MMM and the Labour Party sealed an electoral alliance. 

Mr. Pravind Jugnauth hardly had time to shoot a Private Notice Question (PNQ). Several weeks ago, the former President of the Republic Mr. Cassam Uteem proposed an almost similar plan, with some nuances though. He stated that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth could accept the post and that almost immediately he should announce the holding of general elections within one year. Though this seems laudable, we wonder whether such a situation would not again plunge the country in another electoral campaign.  

The president of the MSM Mr. Showkutally Soodhun (who is also the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Housing and Lands) has announced that Mr Pravind Jugnauth should take the responsibility of the country. He was talking at a gathering of MSM supporters in Constituency number 17 (Curepipe and Midlands) last week. He also shared another important piece of news: that Sir Anerood Jugnauth will not resign as MP of constituency number 7 (Piton and Rivière du Rempart).  

THE THIRD TIME IN eleven YEARS

This is the third time in eleven years that the population, in particular the supporters of the MSM are made to wait for some political development that is intrinsically linked to the life of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth. The first time was during the post –general elections of 2005. As he failed to be elected in constituency number 11 (Vieux Grand Port-Rose Belle), this created a very uneasy situation which saw his own uncle Mr. Ashock Jugnauth trying to emerge.

Later when the PMSD, then led by Mr. Maurice Allet, removed its support to the MMM. Thus Mr. Bérenger lost his post as Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Ashock Jugnauth thought that his time had at last come. He urged that the post be given to him but Mr. Pravind Jugnauth resisted and chose the ever faithful Mr. Nando Bodha. The latter did a remarkable job as Leader of the Opposition. The fact that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was not an elected member of the National Assembly was felt by the diehards of the party.

Ultimately, when he was elected at the bye-election held in constituency number 8 (Moka and Quartier Militaire) on 1 March 2009, against Mr. Ashock Jugnauth, and with the support of the Labour Party, he chose to make a loyal opposition. Those who had placed high hopes on him had to wait till the 2010 general elections. Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was appointed Minister of Finance but soon the Med Point deal led to the resignation of the MSM from the Dr. Navin Ramgoolam-led government.

The MedPoint case became a millstone of pain for the Leader of the MSM. Even the landslide victory of the Lepep Alliance at the 2014 general elections was overshadowed by the uncertain future of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth. On 30 June 2015 when he was found guilty by magistrates of the Intermediate Court, things becaome quite serious for him and he even chose to resign as Minister, 

Thus started a long wait for the Leader of the MSM, by his close aides and  supporters of the party. Even the then Minister of Finance Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo confessed in a media interview that the absence of the Leader of the MSM in the cabinet of Ministers was felt.   

A NEW HOPE  

When Mr. Pravind Jugnauth won the appeal against the earlier judgment, in May 2016, this paved the way for him to be the Minister of Finance. He took his job seriously and presented a national Budget which brought about some feel –good factor. Then came the Trilochun matter which overshadowed the positive outcomes of the 2016/2017 Budget. 

Everyone thought that once the government deals with the Trilochun matter, it would try to build on the feel-good factor created by the Budget.

Now, again all hopes are pinned on his appointment as Prime Minister. Presented as the “hope for the new generation”, in a song specially created in his honour, it is wondered for how long will the wait last, and what this will bring in the lives of the ordinary citizens.