J-3 : Things that I will definitely remember when I’m voting on 7th November 2019

Only 3 days left for the general elections!

Similar to the past 2014 elections, I wanted to write some words to sum up my feelings around how the country was governed during the current mandate.

Back in December 2014, I really wanted a change in the government for several reasons and at that point of time, many thousands of Mauritians definitely shared the same belief, thus driving a new team at the head of Mauritius. But 5 years later, I personally feel the need for another round of change.

Facts

Whether you support the remaining bunch of L’Alliance Lepep people or not, you will certainly agree to the following facts :

• Some promises made were totally false and never taken seriously. Just to quote one of them : Freedom of information act.
• Totally opposite actions were taken in respect of some things said during that campaign. For example : Metro Leger project was highly condemned by SAJ but head and tails were made to “complete” the project in their own deadlines. Except that, weeks have elapsed since the deadline and soft launch, and still the said metro / tram is not able to operate as it should be.
• The number of acquaintances and family members recruited in top management of several governmental organisations is absolutely astonishing.
• Early focus of main government was to crash BAI and condemn the ex-PM in court but till now, neither owners of BAI nor the ex-PM have not even been guilty in any case. Instead, thousands of people went through un-necessary stress and hundreds of them are still running after their own hard earned money
• Portions of beach around the island given away for hotel construction under obscure conditions.
• The “Commission sur la drogue” revealed quite a few things, for example a prisoner blamed the current prime minister for financing the drug business and also, two elected deputees of the government had to resign from their positions.
• SAJ says he is unfit for duty as prime minister and passes the prime ministership to his son Pravind
• Resignation of the President Ameenah Gurib Fakim after the credit card statement leaks and links regarding Alvaro Sobrinho. The total truth has still not been revealed, probably because someone is being held as a hostage by some other party
• Resignation of Roshi Badhain who claims that he was not behind the BAI crash at any time. But it is a fact that he was always in all press conferences, media debates about BAI and related stories
• Resignation of Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo following Euro Loan scandale and also, previously, his transfer from the minister of finance to another ministerial post. This actually triggered the partial elections in No7 which indirectly acted as a catalyst for this forthcoming general elections 2019.
• Construction of Cote D’Or Multi Complex Stadium which, despite all efforts, was not completed in time to host majority of competitions for the Jeux des Iles JIOI 2019
• Mathematical skills of Ravi Rutnah
• Super Soodhun who had to resign nearly at end of mandate
• Raj Dayal’s Bal Kouleur corruption case which forced him to resign too
• Biscuit Esko being sold below Rs50 in Mauritian shops but at Rs600 in the Mauritius Duty Free Paradise shops
• 2 biscuit et 1 bouteille dilo along with the lobsters ( langoustes) of a dear minister
• PMSD slams the door of the l’Alliance Lepep and joins the opposition party
• Arrest of small drug customers and dealers but still, no sight of the head of the cartel, a.k.a the Mauritian El Chapo.
• Critical level of consumption of synthetical drugs and related deaths due to overdose over the past 5 years while minister Gayan said that nothing was alarming.
• Promise of 24/7 water supply for whole population never been fulfilled, with recent uproars in several regions due to lack of water supply during the past week.
• Construction of a military base on Agalega

Removing people stained by scandals

With the number of scandals growing over these past 5 years, the MSM and partners had to review their candidates and remove 20 of previously elected candidates from the current list of candidates, in an attempt to show that they are putting new blood in politics

Where are these 20 people heading to?

Some people believe that by removing those 20 candidates, the government going to be better.
Let me just say something : Each of these 20 previously elected candidates had political nominees working just below them. Examples : (1) Advisors, (2) people they appointed in governmental organisations, (3) agents and boot lickers constantly looking for contracts / opportunities to get contracts or jobs.

For sake of simplicity, let’s just assume that each candidate got 5 related people. That makes 100 people affected by this task. Do you think that these 100 + 20 = 120 people will be forgotten by the government?

NO! In case they are again elected, each one of these 120 people will probably get a job somewhere else, whether an ambassador, director, manager or an asshole leading a group of competent people.

Krouink, the Mauritian who was rejected as candidate

The electoral reform including the ban of the Best Loser System was once again not completed due to lack of will on behalf of the government. On top of that, unlike in 2014, the current government has not done any last minute mini-amendment to allow election candidates not to declare their ethnics. Thus, once again, 8 seats of the National Assembly parliament will be allocated based on ethnics. The struggle of Resistance Et Alternatives (ReA) has once again been unfruitful but they do not lose hope.

This brings our country to shame when you imagine that people of all communities and beliefs joined hands together and claimed to be Mauritians during the Jeux Des Iles de l’Ocean Indien but the current constitution and laws do not allow a “Mauritian” to sit as a election candidate.

Things that did not change 5 years later…

As a Mauritian,

• You still can’t enjoy the beaches like all Mauritians should be able to.
• You can’t aspire to become the director or CEO of a governmental organisation if you do not have those dirty politics links. Sometimes, you can’t even aspire to get some governmental jobs.
• You still have to lose time in traffic jams because instead of solving the road congestion problem, the metro project was given the upmost attention and resources instead as they all want their names to be written in the history of Mauritius
• You can’t express yourself freely. With amendments to the law, anyone can feel harmed by any of your words and summon the police to take action.
• You still have to manage with your constant income while on one hand, the cost of life is constantly increasing and on the other hand, you witness the abuse being done by members of the government.

Who should you vote?

When I hear people around me showing support to this current government or even, to members of the opposition party, I really feel like saying : “Ki zot ena dans zot la tete? La tête pas bon? Kaka?“

How can you fight for these traditional parties and their dinosaurs when you know that they are not better than the other? And you dare criticize them during the mandate? It is not because you or your family got something from them (bane roderes boutes) that you need to support them! You are just making things worst for the country by thinking just for your family and yourself.

Also, these parties claim to have introduced youngsters and new people in their parties to attract people and show that they have actually changed. Do you really think that these persons will have a say in governing the country? They will just be mere puppets at the hand of their leaders.

Whether is has been Pravind or Navin at the head of the country, these persons have always protected their own families and friends. If you or your family did get anything from them, so, you are part of the corrupted system. I personally can’t expect anything from you as you can’t decide on your own. You are dependent on what “your leader said”… So, keep on following the leader and don’t forget to hang his picture in your bedroom!

Now, if you think differently and really want the country to get rid of these dinosaurs, vote for a change. A change in the system. Give people the chance to show what they can do.

You should not have this thought that

“Pu perdi votes r sa bane ti parties sa…”.

Yes, we must be realistic. There are mere chances that small parties can take power and gain control of the country. But if the majority of the population decides to support them, nothing is impossible. Even if they are not part of the government, give them the possibility to enter the national assembly.

That will be an enormous sign of encouragement for them and new hope for the country. All of us need to start somewhere, just like when we were freshly graduated and we needed to start our career without any experience. Remember what happens when no one wants to give you a job because you don’t have the required experience!

In a few days time,

• I will vote for a change by voting for new people and new parties. I particular like new emerging parties such as 100% Citoyen and independent candidates such as Oliver Thomas. Several other examples can be cited. I’ll update accordingly.
• I do not approve giving support to neither these traditional parties nor to their new puppets in their family business because for the next five years, I do not want to blame myself whenever the future government is messing things up. At least, I did not vote for them.
• I will be voting in my new constituency, La Caverne – Phoenix (No 15), far away from Triolet – Pamplemousses (No 5) ; An additional reason for me to start afresh, with new hopes in a better future.

Wishing good luck to those running a clean campaign. Let’s catch up again after the proclamation of results.

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Cheers!