AGF Should Step Down

She's staying put. For now. But several opposition parties want her to go in connection with her involvement with Alvaro Sobrinho. If Collendavelloo is sacked pressure will mount for her to tend her resignation. But that might not even be necessary.

A Woman At Le Reduit, Finally

Tomorrow Ameena Gurib-Fakim will make history by ending a long streak of male Presidents. Ramgoolam of course had three chances of putting a woman as head of state. But he didn't. Maybe it's because he was too busy turning our vibrant democracy into a plutocracy. Maybe he was suffering from a really bad case of kotomilitis. 

But women still have to grab the following important posts:

1. Prime Minister
2. Minister of Finance
3. Chief Justice
4. Commissioner of Police
5. Commander (SMF)
6. Governor, Bank of Mauritius
7. Postmaster General
8. Financial Secretary (doesn't matter if she's from another planet)
9. Electoral Commissioner
10. Leadership of major political parties
11. Chief Executive Officer of our largest corporations

Go Women! Go!

SAJ Returns To Parliament, History Accelerates

We now have a Prime Minister who has lived 84 years or 3 years more than my all-time favourite at the time he lost power in 1982. Today is also the first time the Speaker of our National Assembly was addressed as Madam. More history is on the way at Le Reduit when Ms. Fakim will replace Kailash Purryag. The sooner the better.

SAJ is also making a comeback 11 years after having announced his retirement in 2003. This never happened before. Mr. Lutchmeenaraidoo is back too for a third term -- or a fourth one -- after almost a quarter of a century. If he does that again -- assuming he loses his seat in 2019 -- he will be eligible for one of those phones that centenarians receive.

So a larger pension has been paid and there will be a Rs10 billion item in the next budget to unleash the creative capital of Mauritius.

Not missing Sithanen and Mansoor by any chance?

Gulbul Confirms Sithanen Proposal is Constitutional Galimatia

If you listen carefully to what he said on radio this week. Given that they are proposing to shift the power to dissolve Parliament to an elected President this changes the nature of our democratic system and will therefore require a referendum where a supermajority -- 75% -- of voters give the nod as well as a unanimous vote in Parliament. He has cited Privy Council interpretations of section 1 of our Constitution as basis for his analysis. He joins two colleagues who have promised to go to court if leaders start choosing MPs.

See I told you the bean-counter had no business on one committee. It also shows that collectively Mauritians are very smart. Which would explain why the bill hasn't been released yet. They know it's amateurish at best. And don't want to look silly again. After it is thrashed unceremoniously.

Parliament Dissolved in Trivial Manner

The people of Mauritius learned about it by way of communique Monday afternoon. It didn't look any more serious on that evening's JT: it took the newscaster a mere 10 seconds. People not familiar with the importance of elections in a democracy might argue that it would have been perfectly ok to make the announcement somewhere in the weather report. Maybe before telling us how much rain Mon Loisir Rouillard got in the last 24 hours.

It's the first time Ramgoolam didn't do a press point to formally announce it to us. But we have to understand. 2014 has been a very heavy year for our MPs. And it's already the third term that our PM is completing. Well sort of.

I guess dissolving Parliament is the right thing to do as there are no major problems in the country. That can be solved by our Parliament by January 14, 2015. Which is 100 days -- time it takes to apparently change lives -- from now. Or by April 24, 2015. 200 days from now. Or enough time to apparently change lives two times. And less than five years since the last time we went to vote. Everything is going swimmingly.

Ramgoolam Rat Enn Lot Randevu Ek Listwar

Ler linn nomm Kailash Purryag kom prosin prezidan repiblik. Bon se vre ki se promye fwa li pe nomm enn travays. Rapel ki so de lot nominasyon finn swa remont lor kes savon ubien return dan laren politik pu tir so manze. Me Ramgoolam ti kav donn enn lot dimansyon prezidans sa fwa la. Si li ti nomm enn parmi sa bann morisyen la:

1. Eric Milazar -- sa vites ki morisyen pe vinn obez la pa ti move gagn enn sampyon kumsa ki kompran kiapel lavites dan redwi. En plis li pre pu pran so retret.
2. Eric Triton -- enn prezidan gagn drwa kontinye zwe lamisik. Ti va dedie enn lasam redwi pu lamizik. Dimunn ti va vinn gete.
3. Pamela Patten -- enn de nu bann lavwa prefere. Tu dimunn kontan li. Anfin, apard detrwa zimaz.
4. Chitmansing Jesseramsing -- nu ex-ambasader emerit kinn servi anba 7 prezidan amerikin ek kinn ekut lamisik ek manz popcorn en sort bann 4 zuliet Lincoln Memorial.
5. Ananda Devi -- pa enn move lide avoye enn antropolog redwi -- kav gagn bann bon biografi bann personalite ki transit laba apre.
6. Shenaz Patel -- zurnalis/ekrivin progresis ki pu kav kontinye ekrir redwi.
7. Abhimanyu Unnuth -- enn lot nu bann gran poet/ekrivin (75 liv).
8. Sobhanund Seeparsad -- zurnalis/akter mollywood/ekrivin triling e en bonis enn lavwa radiofonik. Pu bon pu diskur program sa.
9. Aline Wong -- nomm enn dimunn Zen ki bien kompran limportans kapital imin pa ti pu mal.
10. Victor Glover -- ansyen sef ziz ki deza konn baz la: linn fer 4 fwa kuma guverner zeneral par interim ek 1 fwa kuma prezidan par interim.

Ramgoolam ti kav usi fer pli fasil: les Monique Bellepeau glis dan pos prezidan trankil.

Should Uteem Lose His Presidential Privileges?

Given that a couple of years ago he did something Mauritians don't expect their former Presidents to do: get back on the soap box. The fact that he didn't find it strange for SAJ to go back to active politics fooled no one. We now hear that he is still considering making another dip into partisan politics.

I think he should lose them. What about you?

Lifelong Militant Explains His Party's Last Defeat

We lost votes in the following manner:

1. Ramgoolam's face was said to resemble something else: -4%

2. Gregoire issuing voting instructions that were not exactly neutral: -4%

3. The suggestion that Beebeejaun go out like cattle: -3%

4. Former President Uteem climbing on May 1st platform: -1%

Total -12%. So that the MMM could have received 55% of the votes and around 80% of the seats. And Berenger could have been PM for five whole years. The fact that Ramgoolam won obviously had -- contrary to what the MMM suggests when it loses elections -- little to do with the skin colour of moustas. And here is my take on the 2005 defeat.

The PM must already be grinning about the thought that at least two former Presidents could be on one political platform on Labour Day.

SAJ Drags Le Reduit into Partisan Politics

He held a half-an-hour press point from there to announce his resignation as President and to take large swipes at the government in general and at the Prime Minister in particular. He should simply have restricted himself to announcing that he is leaving and then say what he wanted to say -- only if he forgot that he has been our President for almost nine years -- from another location after his resignation becomes effective tomorrow.

And if he wants to help the country he can always babysit Pravind. In private. Presidents should not go back to partisan politics.

Things Getting Ugly Atop Republic

Speaking after the PM at the Hindu House this evening the President criticised the authorities namely for turning a blind eye to the alarming increase in substance abuse. He also stressed the important point that the struggle for independence was not the work of one man. An allusion no doubt to the spin that the current PM has been putting for a good many years on this and other events that have marked the history of our young country.

Prompted for comments afterwards, Navin Ramgoolam blamed senility for the President's speech and challenged him to come back into the political arena. Chances are these two personalities will not meet on Thursday...

DSK Taken Off Plane To Face Attempted Rape Charges

Minutes before take-off at JFK. The IMF boss apparently tried to abuse a maid as he stepped outside of the bathroom of his hotel suite in the Big Apple. Some are already concluding that he won't be able to run in the French Presidential elections due next year. DSK was way ahead in recent polls.

No Labourite Good Enough To Be President

Well at least for Navin Ramgoolam who was not able to find one on each of the two occasions he could have rewarded a loyal party servant. Indeed he used them to grant second terms to both Cassam Uteem and Aneerood Jugnauth.

And these have been surprising choices. I mean granted that you may have trouble remembering Cassam Uteem as the ultimate die-hard labour. But you are unlikely to forget an ex-President going back to partisan politics to save the country from an apparently impending dictatorship. That of course after attempting to broker an alliance with the same dictator-designate who had kindly allowed him to sleep 5 more years in a chateau and not before he told us that he had finally understood that a President should remain above soapbox theatrics.

SAJ getting a second mandate is even more comical if you recall the level of animosity between him and the PM-elect at the start of Ramgoolam's second mandate. But Navin had little choice given the dedication with which two university buddies had relentlessly screwed up the economy.

The history-making nomination of Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau as Vice-President is also kind of weird. As someone commented a few days ago nobody can understand why Ramgoolam did not try to find out first if the MMM would have voted an amendment to abolish the Vice-Presidency. Which would have allowed the PM to remain consistent with what he recently told us he wanted dearly.

He could also have appointed Bellepeau as President in 2008. Or the late Chettiar. Instead of SAJ. Maybe the guy is not a Real Labourite afterall.

Lula's Record Powers First Woman To Brazilian Presidency

Her name is Dilma Rouseff, she is 62 and defeated Jose Serra 56% against 44% in the second round of the Presidential race yesterday because Brazilians want Lula's policies to give better life prospects to many more of their fellow citizens.

One intriguing perk of President Rouseff could happen if she hands the World Cup to the selecao in the Maracana stadium in 2014. Which would settle an old score.

Labour-MMM Alliance Good for the Uteems Not for Mauritius

Good for them because that's about the only way father or son could get elected in the next polls. Not good for Mauritius because that alliance would win all the seats without a serious plan for our country before breaking-up one year later. 

President Uteem has yet to tell us how this is in the interest of our country. I suspect he'll have a hard time doing that because he doesn't seem to understand that a former President shouldn't go back into partisan politics.

Hu is Going to Be Missed?

Am gonna miss the Chinese President for at least one reason: he reduced traffic on our roads to levels not seen in ages. And he did that for two straight days. Simply awesome! What I don't understand is why Navin didn't offer him to stay in Mauritius forever.

It's true there is another solution to our severe traffic problems: provide a pair of escort motorcycles to each motorist.