That's what he gently asked when I turned around after feeling his hand on my shoulder. It's April 30, 2006 around 16h at Chebel and the Prime Minister has just finished paying his respect to the former Secretary-General of the Labour Party. He's asking this because the third edition of a newsletter I had started in September 2005 had been making some waves. It had even been published in a daily. In it I was essentially asking that Sithanen be replaced as Finance Minister because he had done nothing in the first 10% of the mandate that started on July 3, 2005.
"Se pa ki mo pa get along ar li. Li pe misread la sityasyon." I answered. "Par egzanp so Triple External Shocks la fos terib". "Ah bon?" a stunned Ramgoolam said. There was a little pause and then he asked me to "avway mwa enn papye lor la".
That was kind of easy to do because the next edition of the newsletter I happen to be working on dealt precisely with that fallacy. So I rapidly repackaged the ideas into a short letter and faxed it to the PM a few hours later.
"Se pa ki mo pa get along ar li. Li pe misread la sityasyon." I answered. "Par egzanp so Triple External Shocks la fos terib". "Ah bon?" a stunned Ramgoolam said. There was a little pause and then he asked me to "avway mwa enn papye lor la".
That was kind of easy to do because the next edition of the newsletter I happen to be working on dealt precisely with that fallacy. So I rapidly repackaged the ideas into a short letter and faxed it to the PM a few hours later.
And what was to happen happened...the PM never ever asked you anything about your letter/paper! Am I right? If your answer in in the negative, then that would surely be an exception for the real Ramgoolam does not care!
ReplyDeleteAs for the triple shocks story, Rama did not not know because he came from the sky... well, in the real sense since he was working for and with the "gros capital". When he landed on earth, it is only then that he knew there were problems with petrol, sugar, manufacturing, he even found "squelettes in the placard". Now when he is leaving earth - most probably for the sky ...er "gros capital" - more than 75% of the population have become walking or working squelettes (fini tire tous jus are zotte...bagasse restee).
@Kranti: Lol! Yep, there was no follow-up. He only used some of the arguments in a succeeding press conference.
ReplyDeleteSithanen definitely screwed up big time.
Your letter is dated 30th April 2006. That's full 4 years ago. Did Navin ever call you back for more details or at least send someone to talk to you about the 'triple external shock'? No?
ReplyDeleteBizarre: parski samem dimoune ti dire 2-3 jours de cela "il n'y pire aveugle que celui qui ne veut voir". Li'nn prend 4 ans pou tourve clair et comprend ki the guy (Rama) must go. Eh bein! Entretemps, STC gagne letemps faire hedging catastrophique, devaluation deguisée inn fini take effect, etc... Dommage Navin is so slow to act. And more dramatically, he holds Rama is such a high esteem that he can neither criticise him, nor fire him. Pov diab, aster nou'nn conné "qui portait la culotte" in the previous l'alliance sociale.
It's high time that you publish a regular magazine (like Political and Economic Weekly which exists in India), a lot of Mauritian intellectuals (both here and abroad) will buy and also contribute excellent papers.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I've always asked myself why Labour did not try someone like you as Finance Minister before Sithanen ???
L'exercice du pourvoir est tout le temps perilleux. A lot of politicians have burnt themselves to death for having thought that they were flawless and permanent. They derive huge support from outdated legislations and practices as they feel that they are not accountable to anybody or to any institution. Our constitution and the various watchdog-institutions require a real mise-a-jour. Electoral promises and manifestos are useless if civil society does not press for urgent actions
ReplyDeleteramgoolam meme ki p repete triple shock pou message fin annee....moi mo pas croire ki li finnr croire toi ou meme porte attention cequi to fiine dire li dans to lettre.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Why Ramgoolam didn't try me as FM before Sithanen? That's easy to answer: his political recruiting machine has broken down a long time ago or maybe it never worked. Don't weak people surround themselves with still weaker folks?
ReplyDeleteThe Economic Political Weekly looks like an interesting idea but not sure I've got time for this.
@Anonymous: mo kwar line lir li apre lin sirman dire 'hmm, mo kav servi sa dan mo prosin konferans de press'.