A circus of the absurd

The ultimatum of the Prime  Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to the British government demanding the retrocession of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, at latest by the end of June, expired on Thursday.

This bold stand by the Mauritian Prime Minister could not be otherwise as representatives of the British and US Governments flexed their muscles. It all started with the affirmation by Sir Anerood Jugnauth during a meeting with representatives of the British and US Governments, held on Thursday 23 June ,2016, that the Mauritian Government does not recognize the British Indian Ocean Territory (B.I.O.T).

In fact, Sir Anerood Jugnauth met Mr Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management at the US Department of State, and Mr Neil Wigan, Africa Director at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at the request of the UK and the US.

HOSTILE POSITIONS

The next day, (Friday 24 June,2016) a joint communiqué was issued in which it was underlined, inter alia that “The UK and USA are absolutely clear about UK sovereignty of these islands, which have been British since 1814. And to recall that “The use of the islands for joint UK-US defense purposes was established in 1966”.

The UK and US Governments brushed aside all claim from Mauritius regarding the sovereignty of the Chagos. “Whilst neither the UK nor USA recognizes the Republic of Mauritius’ claim to sovereignty of that Territory, the UK has made binding undertakings to cede it to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defense purposes.” It is obvious that it was the intention expressed by the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth at the National Assembly “to seek a referral by the UN General Assembly to the International Court of Justice this autumn, in order to obtain an advisory opinion in relation to the British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)” that has motivated both the UK and US governments to getting tough.

They were not only tough but threatening too. “Referral of this matter to the International Court of Justice would cause lasting damage to Mauritius’ bilateral relations with both the UK and the USA”, underlined the communiqué. On Friday afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Office (Mauritius) gave a scathing reply to the joint UK/US Governments’ press release, arguing that their stand is “hostile and totally unacceptable and in breach of their obligations under international law.”

The Prime Minister further stressed that the intention of Mauritius to seek an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should not be viewed as an unfriendly act since Mauritius is fighting for a legitimate cause.

ENTER THE FIREFIGHTER

The British High Commissioner in Mauritius Mr. Jonathan Drew tried to play the firefighter in an interview given to Radio Plus on Thursday. “Friends do not take one another to court”, he stated, adding that “I am a diplomat. My job is to make sure that relations between the UK and Mauritius are as fruitful and good as they can be.”

Mr. Drew reiterated the wish of the British Government to renew dialogue with the Government of Mauritius. “We put out a statement last week hoping that the government of Mauritius will continue to sit down with us in discussions and look for a way forward together as friends. Friends do not take one another to court. So I very much hope that we can find a way to continue discussions in a friendly way that will lead to resolution that we can both be satisfied of”.

THE DIPLOMATIC WAY

Should the three parties decide to hold talks on the issue of the retrocession of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, there would still be hurdles in their way. It should be recalled that Sir Anerood Jugnauth has requested a meeting with the UK Prime Minister and the US President to discuss the issue of the return of the Chagos Archipelago to the effective control of Mauritius.

Both the current British Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron and the US President Barak Obama are outgoing leaders. Logically, it would be more appropriate to wait for their respective successors to take office to start negotiations unless they both want to be remembered as having at least kick-started the diplomatic talks to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius

Interestingly enough, Mauritius and the United Kingdom will have to negotiate in the wake of Brexit.  An issue which the British High Commissioner hastened to remind: “ There are big issues facing our two governments. You know the result last week of the Brexit referendum. You know that in due time we will need negotiations with the government of Mauritius on that. We need to be friends. We need to have endearing friendship”.

HAVING RECOURSE TO THE ICJ

In the event that Mauritius decides to have recourse to the International Court of Justice, the Government should be prepared for lengthy procedures. Constitutionalist Mr. Milan Meetarbhan has explained to the media that to bring a dispute before the International Court of Justice, both parties must agree to do so. In the first instance, there should be a resolution of the United Nations. Now, the United Kingdom recognizes the competence of the United Nations in conflict resolutions, except when it concerns Commonwealth countries. When Mauritius explored the possibility of quitting the Commonwealth in a bid to pursue its procedures to go to the International Court of Justice, the United Kingdom decided that former Commonwealth countries also fall in this category.

What a coincidence that on Wednesday the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom delivered a judgment, maintaining a decision of House of Lords preventing people of the Chagos from returning to their native land! However, the same judgment opens the door for a possible challenge of the British Government’s earlier decisions concerning resettlement on the Chagos Achipelago.

THE VOLTE FACE

Coming back to local politics per se, the volte face of former Environment Minister Mr. Raj Dayal amused many. Mr. Dayal who was participating in a ceremony at Mare-La-Chaux on Saturday, openly expressed his discontentment that Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) Mr. Thierry Henry was still in post after he was allegedly involved in a fatal road accident while he (Mr. Dayal) was made to step down. He promised that he would bang his fists on the table at the next meeting of the parliamentary committee of the majority. At the same time, he criticized the government quite severely.

Minister of Health Mr. Anil Gayan was the first to react to the statement made by his former cabinet colleague. Then suddenly. Mr. Dayal shifted stances and held a press conference at the Sun Trust Building (the seat of the secretariat of the Mouvement Socialiste Militant, the MSM) to say that he was quoted out of context and that he renewed his loyalty to the Lepep Alliance.

How could somebody like Mr. Dayal who is well versed in political lore turn politics into a circus of the absurd? The grapevine has it that he recently met the former Prime Minister Dr. Navin Ramgoolam. Could that meeting have had something to do with Mr. Dayal’s recent political boondoggle?

As an end note, it is worth noting that the MMM has decided not to support the initiative of the Labour Party to file a vote of no confidence against Madam the Speaker Mrs Maya Hanoomanjee.