Saturday, April 30, 2016

Top Three General Elections

No. 3. July 2005. Labour and allies do something which was thought almost impossible until then: one of the three main parties beating the other two. And that too by a comfortable margin. Ramgoolam is also the first political leader to stage a comeback as PM for 5 years. Without an exit clause. They double up a few months later by winning all five municipalities.

No. 2. December 2014. What a beauty! Against all odds -- and crappy simulations -- Jugnauth rides back to power on strong voter opposition to replacing our iPhone of electoral setup -- God bless our FPTP system -- with the dangerous Sithanen electoral stupidity. Voters collectively stun almost everyone with their intelligence by keeping Ramgoolam, Boolell and many others out of parliament. To also thwart Ramgoolam's silly fantasy of becoming President à la frenchie.

Can't be another one. August 1967. The elections to set Mauritius free. To get our national flag flying high seven months later. And an opportunity for a couple of mavericks to prove Meade wrong. And deliver unprecedented upward social mobility to tens of thousands through the mindful combination of the welfare state, progressive taxation, the FPTP system, the Westminsterian system of government and visionary policy-making.

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