Driving the straying hounds back to the main pack

The session of the National Assembly on Tuesday was once more marked by the unruly behavior of some MPs. After last week’s incidents, things have again taken an ugly turn following an altercation between the opposition whip Mr. Rajesh Bhagwan and the leader of the MSM Mr. Pravind Jugnauth. The situation became so unbearable that Madam the Speaker Mrs. Maya Hanoomanjee, profoundly irritated and considering that her authority had been trampled upon, suspended the session for around forty minutes and walked out from the hemicycle. Everything started at around 16hrs when Mr. Bhagwan was addressing his question to the Minister of Financial Services, Good Governance, Institutional Reforms and Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation Mr. Roshi Bhadain.  Mr. Bhagwan reproached the Minister of being impartial while he was replying to supplementary questions. At one point of time, the Opposition Whip informed the House that the MMM will no longer participate in “manipulated” television programmes, conceived and broadcasted by the “Bhadain Broadcasting Corporation” . Mr. Bhagwan also accused Mr. Jugnauth of controlling everything. The latter, visibly offended, made some remarks. To which Mr Bhagwan replied:  “you are on bail” while mimicking handcuffed hands. Mr. Pravind Jugnauth hit back and stated in a sarcastic manner: “Because of you I will walk like this”. Meanwhile the Government Whip Mr. Mahen Jhugroo was the most garrulous among the MPs who “defended” the leader of the MSM. The then Acting Prime Minister and Leader of the House Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval and the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Mr. Ivan Collendavelloo watched the outrageous behavior, sitting silently and almost callously. Mr. Jhugroo recalled the negotiations between the MMM and the Labour Party and termed the former government of being “voler” (corrupt). At that moment Mr. Duval signaled Mr Jhugroo to calm down but the latter persisted. Madam the Speaker stood up and urged the MPs to calm down, which they ought to have done once she “was on her feet” but they continued to argue loudly among themselves. “I am suspending the session”, stated Madam the Speaker and she left the hemicycle. When she resumed the chair, she lectured the MPs on their conduct. “ Honourable Members, your conduct should reflect your status”. She added that Parliamentary Questions constitute an important mechanism to ensure an oversight of government action. She deplored that some MPs use this time to make allegations in a sitting position. “I will not hesitate to take action”, she warned. This is the second time in three weeks that Madam the Speaker has had to warn MPs. Tuesday 29 September was marked by incidents between the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Bérenger and Muvman Liberater MP Mr. Ravi Rutnah. The latter was almost assaulted by enraged MMM MPs. Disruptive and inappropriate behaviour of some MPs seem to take an upward trend. True it is that MPs have to make their voices heard in Parliament but they should avoid fueling disrespect towards Madam the Speaker and other MPs. It must be noted that on Tuesday, at one point of time, both whips ( the Government Whip Mr. Mahen Jhugroo and the Opposition Whip Mr. Rajesh Bhagwan ) entered into conflict . Interestingly enough both whips are corpulent and loud mouthed. In moments of tension at the National Assembly, they act more like enthralled partisans than responsible whips. According to www.parliament.uk, “Whips are MPs or Members of the House of Lords appointed by each party in Parliament to help organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business. One of their responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party members vote, and vote the way their party wants”. The definition of the duties, at no moment, mentions that of some sort of shouting brigade. However this site provides a very interesting etymology of the word “whip”. “The use of the word ‘whip’ within Parliament has its roots in the 18th century hunting terminology ‘whipper-in’. It refers to a huntsman’s assistant who drives straying hounds back to the main pack using a whip”. It is not only inside the National Assembly that MPs misbehave or make controversial comments. The country was expecting some tranquility after Mr Showkutally Soodhun’s acting priministership hyped by the media. This over emphasized episode was still on when once more the Minister of Health and Quality of Life Mr. Anil Gayan chose to make yet another controversial statement at a congress of the Muvman Liberater in Rose Hill on Thursday 1 October. “Rajesh Bhagwan a remporté les élections par 400 voix aux legislatives”  (Rajesh Bhagwan has won the last elections by 400 votes). “Samem kan monn vinn minis lasanté monn met tou methadone déor” (That is why when I became Minister of Health, I decided to interrupt the methadone programme). This statement from the Minister of Health angered NGOs involved in the struggle against the use of illicit drugs. The Minister argued that his statement was pulled out of context. He told the media that in fact, he wanted to say that Mr. Bhagwan ought not to have been elected in constituency number 20 (Beau Bassin and Petite Rivière) and it was the 400 votes, probably obtained from methadone patients that have saved him, though Mr, Bhagwan never resolved the “problem” of methadone. In any case, the Minister of Health should have never brought the “methadone” issue on political levels. After all, how can a Minister of Health find a treatment and rehabilitation programme to be a problem? Probably he still has much more to tell us about his real intentions in his yet another controversial move to replace the treatment. Barrister Mr. Rama Valayden has filed a case against Minister Gayan at the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) following Mr. Gayan’s statement. It would appear that the roads of Mr. Gayan and Mr. Brian Glover are destined to cross each other. Earlier, another complaint had been registered against the Minister of Health apparently following the appointment of one of his close aides Miss Vijaya Sumputh as the Executive Director of the Trust Fund for Specialised Medical Care without any public notice. The Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Bérenger stated on Thursday that the current government is a dysfunctional one. He found it unconceivable that there seem not to be any exchange of information between the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and External Communications Mr Xavier-Luc Duval and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo on a national issue like the development of the port. No doubt Mr. Bérenger is right. But he did not provide the reasons for such a sad state of things. In a editorial piece by Nad Sivaramen in L’Express, part of the reasons are revealed: that this government is a heteroclite assembly of the MSM, the PMSD, the ML and an independent Minister, Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo. How to drive the straying hounds back to the main pack? That’s the million dollar question. Some have started to doubt the almost legendary leadership qualities of Sir Anerood Jugnauth, especially that he is accumulating three-weeks overseas trips.