Mentoring and leadership

The country has lived, a very turbulent yet passionate week on the political front with the sudden resignation of Sir Anerood Jugnauth as Prime Minister and his almost immediate replacement by his son and Leader of the MSM, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth.  

MAJOR POLITICAL HAPPENING  

The announcement made by Sir Anerood Jugnauth, in the form of an address to the nation, on Saturday evening, took many by surprise while others, more precisely media professionals and political pundits, were expecting such a scenario at any time. 

There are several dimensions to this major political happening. First, it is obvious that things have been hastened. Earlier, none other than Sir Anerood Jugnauth had told the media that he would be around for the ceremony of the launching of construction works in view of the introduction of Metro Express. From this statement, it was deduced (probably wrongly) that he would still be the Prime Minister till around March this year.   

This provides grist to the mills of Mr. Roshi Bhadain. At a press conference which he held on Tuesday at Voilà Hotel, Bagatelle, Mr Bhadain has averred that Sir Anerood Jugnauth has been forced to step down as Prime Minister by a clan, which he has termed as being “Mafioso”. According to him, this group of persons has taken over the control of political power. 

Mr. Bhadain even went a step further and revealed that members of the averred “pressure group” have been very harsh with Sir Anerood Jugnauth, even going to the extent of making him shed tears! 

The former Good Governance Minister has stolen the show on Monday when he chose to be absent from the swearing in ceremony of the new Prime Minister Mr. Pravind Jugnauth and other cabinet ministers. This unprecedented move has undoubtedly cast a shadow over the main event of the day, that is the accession of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth to the post of Prime Minister.    

REVEALING THE REAL REASONS 

This leads us to the second dimension of the whole process of replacement of the Prime Minister. Perhaps, in choosing to quit the MSM, the Alliance Lepep government and more importantly to declare war with the Jugnauths, Mr. Roshi Bhadain has done something good for them. He has compelled Sir Anerood Jugnauth to come forward again and to at least reveal the reasons for his sudden stepping down as Prime Minister.

At a press conference held at his residence at La Caverne, Vacoas on Tuesday, the former Prime Minister has replied to the various accusations leveled against him by his former Good Governance Minister. Also, while denying that pressure was exerted on him to vacate his office as Prime Minister, he has at last shared that he chose to quit because he felt that he had accomplished his mission and that it was time to leave the leadership of the country to a younger generation of politicians. 

When he addressed the nation on Saturday evening, Sir Anerood Jugnauth skirted the real reasons for his quitting and as such contributed to the confusion. The perplexity in itself includes several aspects, namely of constitutional and legal nature, of moral and principles, and above all the art of communicating effectively highly important political news. 

In choosing to read out a prepared message to the nation, while he was clad in his formal suit, Sir Anerood Jugnauth distanced himself from the nation. In contrast, on Tuesday afternoon, his more relaxed dress and the venue of his press meeting, that is his house at La Caverne, gave a more down-to-earth approach. Added to that was his outspoken language, though at times a bit brutal; this altogether provided more authenticity. 

The choice of his words on Saturday evening was definitely inappropriate. In announcing that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth would be his successor as Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth made two mistakes. First, he gave the impression that he was pre-empting on the decision of the President of the Republic or even dictating her decision. He should have left this sensible part to the Office of the President to deal with. 

“ Only time will tell if Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will emerge as a national leader and above all grow into a statesman. Also, only time will tell whether the ambitious and outspoken Mr. Roshi Bhadain will manage to conquer the indecisive voters."

Second, he conveyed the wrong message that he was abdicating in favour of his own son. In fact, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was appointed Prime Minister by the President of the Republic because he commands a majority in Parliament. The way things were presented gave the impression that instead of being sworn in as Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth was being enthroned, as rightly underlined by a reader, Miss Saffiyah Edoo, in Le Mauricien on Tuesday 24 January,2017. It was only on Tuesday, at his press conference that Sir Anerood Jugnauth dispelled this doubt. 

Third, the fact that Sir Anerood Jugnauth chose to stay in the cabinet of ministers as Mentor Minister gave rise to all sorts of negative comments, be it from opponents or from the media itself. Had he quitted completely, that would have benefitted Mr. Pravind Jugnauth in terms of asserting himself in the exercise of power.

HIS POLITICAL OPPONENTS IN FOR THE KILL 

The political opponents of  Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will not do him any favour on these two issues, the influence of his father Sir Anerood Jugnauth and that of the clan mentioned by Mr. Bhadain. 

“What is happening these days on the political front is merely an exercise of positioning, whether it is Mr. Alain Wong or Dr Navin Ramgoolam. As long as our political system will be reduced to a musical chair, such things are bound to happen”, had we written last week. 

A week later, we would add that this strategy is being implemented by more and more politicians. The Leader of the Opposition and of the PMSD Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval has openly stated on Radio Plus on Tuesday afternoon that he could well be one of the candidates for the post of Prime Minister at the next general elections. He was the guest of Abdoollah Earally in “la deuxième partie du Grand Journal.”     

Coming to the common platform of the opposition, it was almost unbelievable to see Mr. Paul Bérenger (MMM), Mr. Alan Ganoo (MP), Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval (PMSD) and Mr. Shakeel Mohamed (LP) share the same political space. The opposition is holding a protest march against the appointment of Pravind Jugnauth as Prime Minister, on Friday 27 January, 2017.

In its outward details, the swearing in ceremony of the new Prime Minister Mr. Pravind Jugnauth and his new cabinet of Ministers was an orderly transfer of political power, as enshrined in our Constitution. Those who choreographed these official civilities could not predict two things: the decision of Mr. Roshi Bhadain to boycott the ceremony and as such to refuse being appointed Minister of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms; and the lack of popular support.

Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was well inspired to keep the portfolio of Finance. This will enable him to have a better control and also to reap the fruits in the likely event of an economic recovery. If he had entrusted this responsibility upon Mr. Bhadain, perhaps the latter would have been tempted to stay. The address of the new Prime Minister to the nation was sincere and up to the point. 

Only time will tell if Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will emerge as a national leader and above all grow into a statesman. Also, only time will tell whether the ambitious and outspoken Mr. Roshi Bhadain will manage to conquer the indecisive voters. 

When Mauritius attained Independence in 1968, it broke away from colonial rule but the socio-economic fabric of the new nation has retained the social order of dynastic rule in politics, in the economy and in several other sectors. It is only when we will free ourselves from these invisible chains, that complete freedom will be attained.