Attendant circumstances

Two issues have captivated the attention of the public this week. First, the controversy that has arisen following the designation of former Judge and former Ombudsperson for Children Mrs Vidya Narayen as the Vice President of the Republic while defeated Lepep Alliance candidate Mr. Menon Murday was sidelined. Second, government has had to review the salary compensation as the initial across the board quantum of Rs 150 outraged workers and trade unionists alike. Everything started at the end of last week when the media mentioned the name of Mrs. Vidya Narayen as the most probable successor to Mrs. Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau as the Vice President of the Republic. For a short while, this announcement, though unofficial, gave rise to very positive reactions, mainly from those advocating gender equality. In some quarters, the fact that another woman was to be appointed as Vice President would further enhance women empowerment as two women have been nominated to top posts, namely Mrs Ameenah Gurib Fakim who is serving as President of the Republic and Mrs. Maya Hanoomanjee who is the current Speaker of the National Assembly. Only two persons showed clairvoyance when asked for their opinion by the press: the leader of the Opposition and of the MMM Mr. Paul Bérenger and the spokesperson of Rezistans ek Alternativ Mr. Ashok Subron. Mr. Bérenger said that the MMM had nothing against Mrs. Narayen but he warned that problems would loom up because myriad promises had been made and lots of expectations had been created. While insisting that he respects the integrity and the professional achievements of Mrs. Narayen, Mr. Subron bluntly said that this nomination was being made in the context of a communal and political sharing. Nobody could have guessed that the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth would fuel these debates in such a way that it would create further controversies and unnecessary embarrassment for the government. Speaking at a function to mark the silver jubilee of the Murugan Foundation on Sunday, the Prime Minister denied that he had promised the post of Vice President of the Republic to Mr. Menon Murday, adding that he would have certainly kept his promise had he done so. But Sir Anerood Jugnauth went a step too far and revealed that he had ordered a discreet enquiry on Mr. Menon. “I was surprised to learn that he was an attendant, that he was the president of the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation and that there was a no confidence motion against him. Could I make of this person the Vice President of the Republic?,” said Sir Anerood Jugnauth in his usual straightforward manner. To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister pronounced this unfortunate sentence: “The international community would have criticized me; I have nominated an attendant as Vice President of the Republic”. The Prime Minister also revealed that it was the current Minister of Public Infrastructure Mr. Nando Bodha who suggested the name of Mr. Menon to him, forgetting to underline that Mr. Bodha is the secretary general of the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM), the leading party in the Alliance Lepep. Sir Anerood Jugnauth also brushed aside arguments from supporters of Alliance Lepep in constituency number 13 (Rivière des Anguilles and Souillac) that a Vice President would help to solve problems in their region, in the absence of a minister in the constituency. “Ignorance at times can create lots of problems. I have nothing against him (Mr. Menon Murday). If I could I would have nominated him. Ultimately I found that Mrs. Narayen has the required profile”. No sooner had the media broadcasted extracts from the speech of the Prime Minister than reactions started to pour in. Mr. Menon was the first to react and to underline that he felt humiliated by what Sir Anerood Jugnauth had said on him. “I have my dignity. I cannot allow a Prime Minister to speak like this on me”, said a disillusioned Mr. Menon. But he had a very strong counter argument to share. “Mr. Narendra Modi was a tea seller and today he is the Prime Minister of India. Not all Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Republic had a legal background”. He denied that he is an attendant, underlining that he is currently unemployed. Several organizations, namely the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation, the Union Tamoule de Maurice, the Tamil League and the Tamil Council held a press conference on Monday to denounce the way the Prime Minister had humiliated Mr Murday and cause ridicule to the Tamil community. They insisted that they had never asked for any appointment and that it was him (Sir Anerood Jugnauth) who had promised that one of ours would be the Vice President”, said the leaders of these Tamil organizations. And they too went a step further, arguing that they would provide a list of persons pure-bred Tamils that would qualify for the post of Vice President. However on Wednesday, they changed their minds and stated that would not submit a list so as not to offend the government. The grapevine has it that a list was indeed prepared and includes economist and former president of the Mauritius Tamil Cultural Centre Trust, Mr. Parama Valaydon, former Chief Justice Mr. Ariranga Pillay former high-ranked government official and former chairperson of National Pay Council Mr. Kris Poonoosamy. A small group is also lobbying in favour of former Minister of Education Mr Armoogum Parsuramen. Another outsider, Mrs.Jaya Veerapen, a former Senior Chief Executive at the Ministry of Health, also stands a good chance. The drama was to take another twist with the decision of Mrs. Vidya Narayen to withdraw from the race. On Tuesday afternoon, The Prime Minister’s Office released a communiqué from Mrs. Narayen to bring to public knowledge that the former Judge had withdrawn for “personal reasons, preferring to be above controversies”. At the same time, the National Assembly had to amend its order paper for this Friday, to remove the election of the Vice President from its agenda. Meanwhile, it was decided that Mrs. Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau was requested to stay in office as Vice President till March, when her successor would be designated. Those who thought that things would calm down were wrong. On Wednesday, none other than the leader of the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM) Mr. Pravind Jugnauth publicy disagreed with the statement of the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, his own father and leader of the Lepep Alliance. He insisted that Mr. Menon was a Senior Laboratory Technician and it was him who went to see Mr. Murday to propose him to stand as candidate for the MSM. Mr. Jugnauth, who was speaking at a meeting of the regional meeting of his party in constituency number 13, promised to clean up the mess and compensate Mr. Menon for all the prejudices that he has suffered. It would appear that a post of Senior Adviser will be proposed to Mr. Murday. Now, who gave the wrong information to the Prime Minister? And does that mean that a manual worker can never aspire to become the President or Vice President of the Republic? There are two other aspects to this current problematic: do we really need a Vice President? Former Attorney General Mr. Rama Valayden has proposed the abolition of this post. It must be recalled that the former Prime Minister Dr. Navin Ramgoolam was also open to discussions on that issue. Has there been some sort of barter whereby Mrs. Narayen was offered the post of Vice President to vacate the post of Ombudsperson for Children so that Mrs. Rita Venkatasawmy can step in? Although she is a very competent person whose contribution to the welfare of children cannot be disputed, it could be that some arrangements have been made in her back. Otherwise, why is the Leader of Opposition seeking an appointment with the President of the Republic on the issue of nominations? As an end note, it must be underlined that government has ultimately proposed a new quantum of Rs 250 as salary compensation to those at the lowest rung of the ladder. On Thursday last, the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Bill has been voted by a three-quarter majority. But most importantly, today marks the first anniversary of the victory of the Lepep Alliance at the general elections.