Heralding changes

The meeting between the President of the Republic Mrs. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim and the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Bérenger at the State House, Réduit, on Wednesday morning, was particularly important as it heralds a change that would certainly be beneficial to democracy. The interpretation of our Constitution requires dexterity and any step in enhancing the utilization of the provisions of our Constitution is most welcomed. Mr. Bérenger’s meeting with Mrs. Gurib-Fakim has to be seen in the context of a ruling by the acting Solicitor General. This ruling made as the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Bill was being debated at the National Assembly. Mr. Bérenger had suggested that nomination of the Director of the Integrity Reporting Services Agency and the members of the Integrity Reporting Board be effected by the President of the Republic after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Acting Solicitor General had made it clear that in cases of “ordinary laws,” the President of the Republic had no other choice but to act as per the instructions of the Prime Minister, and not after consultation with the Prime Minister, before proceeding with nominations at the head of nominations that are not listed in our Constitution. Mr. Bérenger had told the media earlier that beyond the “Bhadain’s Law” (the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Bill), his query has to do with all the nominations made by the Presidency during these past twenty years. Section 64 of the Constitution reads as follows: “In the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or any other law, the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet except in cases where he is required by this Constitution to act in accordance with the advice of, or after consultation with, any person or authority other than the Cabinet or in his own deliberate judgment”. Mr. Bérenger cited as example the nomination of the Ombudsperson for Children, which is not a constitutional post, but was effected by the Acting President of the Republic Mrs. Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau. While insisting that the question is not about those who have been nominated but about the procedures that have been used to nominate these persons. In clear, what Mr. Bérenger is suggesting is that the President of the Republic be given the constitutional powers to effect nominations, after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. After his meeting with the President of the Republic, Mr. Bérenger told the media that he is willing to support constitutional amendments that would further empower the President of the Republic, at least concerning nominations. By the way, have you noticed something regarding the paragraphs of the Constitution which have to do with the President of the Republic? A “he” is used when referring to the Head of State. Is it that those who drafted this part of the amendment to our Constitution when Mauritius was to become a Republic did not think of the possibility that a woman could become the President of the Republic? In any case, it is not too late to correct this gender bias by amending this section of the Constitution. The Vice Presidency too is very much in the news these days. Poor Mr. Menon Murday, who was seen as the next Vice President of the Republic, was once more publicly humiliated by the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth as the latter was being interviewed by audiovisual journalists (the MBC and the private radios). Earlier, Sir Anerood Jugnauth had stated at a function organized by the Murugan Foundation that a discreet enquiry that he had ordered had revealed that Mr. Murday was a mere attendant and that a motion of no confidence was tabled against him at the time he served as president of the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation. On Friday last, during the interview, Sir Anerood Jugnauth made yet another revelation: that Mr. Menon is apparently involved in a case that is due to be heard by the intermediate court. Was it necessary for the Prime Minister to dwell on this issue? It sounded more like rubbing salt on the wounds. In spite of all these controversies, Mr. Menon could well be appointed as Vice President of the Republic sometime in March or April. Ironically, he could be posted as Senior Adviser at the Prime Minister’s Office pending his nomination! The MSM has no choice but to keep a promise that it had made to the Tamils during the electoral campaign last year. On Monday (21 December, 2015), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has given a judgment in the case of the Director General of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (Appellant) v/s Chettiar and others (Respondents). The question was whether the pension payable to a retiring Vice-President of the Republic pursuant to section 4 of the President’s Emoluments and Pension Act 1992 (PEPA) is exempt from tax. The Law Lords have come to the conclusion that “The entitlement of the President and the Vice-President to exemption from tax on their prescribed pensions and other emoluments, allowances and privileges is clearly provided for in the 1995 Act. Overarchingly, however, their entitlement to exemption is entrenched in the Constitution, no doubt in order to confer upon them an extra level of protection against hypothetical executive pressure.”. Mr Angidi Chettiar began to serve as Vice-President on 1 July 1997. On 17 February 2002, he ceased to hold office, He again served as Vice-President from 25 August 2007 until his death on 15 September 2010. That brings us to another never-ending debate; that of the reform of our electoral system. No sooner had the government announced that an inter-ministerial committee has been set up to look into the reforms that would be brought to our electoral system than dissenting voices have been heard. Mr. Bérenger told the media that he was skeptical that the inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval on the electoral reforms would lead to something. The president of the Mouvement Patriotique Mr. Alan Ganoo concurred with his former leader, adding that the attributions of the committee was too vast and that instead of an inter-ministerial committee, an independent constitutional commisssion should have been set up. In an interview given to L’Express, former Minister of Finance Mr. Rama Sithanen has also opined that the attributions of the committee are too vast. Financing of political parties too remain a taboo, while political leaders remain fuzzy on the issue. Coming back to the audio visual interview of the Prime Minister broadcasted live on Friday last, if it were not for the question of our colleague Mr. Nawaz Noorbux regarding Nandanee Soornack, it would have looked more like a PR exercise. Indeed, the question triggered by Mr. Noorbux had to do with the question of paternity of the youngest child of Mrs. Soornack, as revealed in an affidavit sworn in by the “lady in red” in Italy. She formally names Dr. Navin Ramgoolam as having fathered her youngest child. In the heat of the series of questions that followed, the Prime Minister revealed that Mrs. Soornack could become a star witness, against Dr. Ramgoolam. Politics here very much resemble Bollywood formulaic movies, replete of all the “massala” ingredients and predictable twists in the plot. So Mrs. Soornack, who was until recently considered as one of the main beneficiaries of the “largesses” of Dr. Ramgoolam’s government, will make her grand entry as some sort of repented damsel. Who is negotiating with her, and at what costs? Is that a desperate move to knock down Dr. Ramgoolam completely so that there is no challenger to Mr. Pravind Jugnauth at the next general elections or is it a patriotic move to clean the Augean stables? As for Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, it is high time that he learns how to hold himself at times. His critics against the judiciary are simply unwarranted and even the Leader of the Opposition has hammered him for that. He, however, may be right when he stated in no uncertain terms that some sort of a “mafia” operates in our institutions. Finally, the opinion poll conducted by LSL-DCDM does provide us with some matters to ponder on, like the fall in popularity of the Alliance Lepep’s government by 19 points, from 86% (December 2014) to 67 % (November 2015). Watch out for Mr. Bérenger (52%) and the MMM!