Resilience in times of uncertainty

It took courage for the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to give an ultimatum to the British and US Governments on the issue of the return of Chagos to Mauritius. Will his firm stand lead to a major diplomatic breakthrough or will matters get worse?

In reply to the Private Notice Question (PNQ) of the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Bérenger, at the National Assembly on Tuesday 5 July,2016, the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth has confirmed that at the request of the British High Commissioner, he has agreed to extend the deadline (of end of June 2016) by another week. “I had asked for a response to my request by the end of June 2016, otherwise Mauritius would take appropriate action at the international level including at the United Nations. Further, at the request of the British High Commissioner, I have agreed to extend the deadline by another week”, stated Sir Anerood Jugnauth.

PRIVATE CONVERSATION

This information was published in L’Express, issue of Friday 1 July, 2016. The daily reported a private conversation between the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo during an official function which was held to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the Independence of the USA at McCarthy House, Vacoas on Thursday 30 June, 2016. Soon after the function was over, neither Sir Anerood Jugnauth nor Mr. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo agreed to comment on what they had discussed earlier. But both the new “chargé d’affaires” at the US Embassy Mr. Mark Asquino and the British High Commissioner Mr. Jonathan Drew accepted to comment on the issue of the Chagos to the press. Mr. Asquino told the media that he had nothing more to add to what had already been mentioned in the joint press release by the British High Commission and the Embassy of the United States on the Chagos issue. “Our position has not changed. We share strong relations on so many aspects. I have conveyed the views of the Government of Mauritius to the United States and they have acknowledged receipt with much respect. At the moment we still have a disagreement on the issue of the Chagos. I think that we have to consider these disagreements with our good relations as backdrop”, said Mr. Asquino. Mr. Drew, for his part, confirmed having requested the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to allow the British government another week, given the situation that has occurred following Brexit. “I repeat it. A friend does not take another friend to court. I know that your Prime Minister has taken very strongly what was mentioned in the joint communiqué but you should put yourself in the place of the British who felt threatened. I hope that the Mauritian Prime Minister will reply to us regarding the extension of the deadline”, said Mr. Drew.

“ In spite of the fact that Sir Anerood Jugnauth finds no objection in meeting Mr. Bancoult, he gives the impression of being “confused” with the various press statements made by the leader of the Groupe Refugiés Chagos."

Interestingly enough, the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Paul Bérenger fully backs the option of the Mauritian Government to have recourse to the International Court of Justice on the issue of the Chagos. He publicly stated so at his weekly press conference held on Saturday 2 July,2016. He however warned that this would entail lengthy procedures and intense lobbying. GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER The Private Notice Question (PNQ) of the Leader of the Opposition on Tuesday was not all confrontational. On the contrary, it proved to be an opportunity for both the Government and the Opposition to get their act together on a national issue. In clear, what is the position of the Government? Sir Anerood Jugnauth stated in his reply at the National Assembly that he will consider the advisability of convening another meeting of the Committee which he has set up under his chairmanship following the Award delivered on 18 March 2015 in the case brought by Mauritius against the UK under UNCLOS. Although the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth stated that as far as he is aware, there is no case regarding fishing rights of Chagossians currently pending before the UK Supreme Court. “Should such a case come up for hearing before the UK Supreme Court, our High Commission in London, as per the practice for previous cases, will certainly keep a watching brief”, he added. An article in The Daily Mail and in the Guardian, both published on 29 June, 2016, had referred to this pending court case. In Parliament, Sir Anerood Jugnauth insisted “that the Chagos Archipelago should be returned by the United Kingdom to the effective control of Mauritius by a precise date to be agreed upon”. He further added: “I proposed that consideration could be given to the joint management of the Chagos Archipelago pending its return to Mauritius. I had asked for a response to my request by the end of June 2016, otherwise Mauritius would take appropriate action at the international level including at the United Nations”. Though he chose to be tough with the British and American Governments, Sir Anerood Jugnauth can still be diplomatic. He outright told Mr. Bérenger that “it would be inappropriate at this precise juncture to go into the specifics of the course of action to be taken.” THE BANCOULT ISSUE Now, Mr. Bérenger seems very convinced of the actions of the leader of the Groupe Réfugiés Chagos, Mr. Olivier Bancoult and has even gone to the extent of advising the Prime Minister to meet Mr. Bancoult. In spite of the fact that Sir Anerood Jugnauth finds no objection in meeting Mr. Bancoult, he gives the impression of being “confused” with the various press statements made by the leader of the Groupe Refugiés Chagos. Some view Mr. Bancoult as a strategic ally of the Mauritian Government while others are suspicious of his real intentions. In an interview to L’Express (issue of Thursday 7 July,2016) Mr. Bancoult clarifies several of these grey zones, namely why he is using his status as a British citizen to challenge the British Government. Undoubtedly,a meeting with the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth would clarify the issue of sovereignty once for all. INCOHERENCE AND UNPOPULAR DECISIONS Coming back to local politics per se, it is obvious that the Lepep Alliance government is still suffering from a crisis in terms of coherence. Why on earth should the Minister of Finance Mr. Pravind Jugnauth bring up again the controversial issue of targeting with regards to the Basic Retirement Pension? As rightly underlined by our colleague Patrick Hilbert in an opinion article published in Le Dimanche /l’Hebdo, issue of Sunday 3 July, 2016, targeting introduced by Mr Pravind Jugnauth was one of the reasons of the defeat of the MSM/MMM Alliance at the general elections held in 2005. Similarly, it is wondered the Minister of Health Mr. Anil Gayan chose to maintain that the situation regarding synthetic drugs is not alarming. None other than the Vice President of the Republic Mr. Barlen Vyapoory has refuted, though not directly, the affirmations by Mr. Gayan. Social workers Mr. Ali Lazer has provided a list of suspected dealers of synthetic drugs to the Police. On the other hand, it is hard to believe that the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Mr. Ivan Collendavelloo is hellbent in increasing the tariff of water even before the distribution of water by the CWA is improved considerably. The decision of the Ministry of Finance to hold on with the issue of new bank notes by the Bank of Mauritius is perhaps one of the rare sensible ones taken in recent months.