70 An De Sela Moris Ti A En Gran Turnan

An 1956 Ptr, selon biografi SVR par Reddi ek Experiments in Democracy par Dukhira, ti pe lager kont propozision PR ki guvernman kolonial ti met de lavan kom system elektoral. Mem lepok Mauritius Times lans so gran kanpayn Down With PR. Malerezman le 22 Mars, Guy Rozemont, lider Ptr, desede a laz 40 an. Lerla eleksion parsiel dan Por-Lwi pu ranplas li vin en referandum lor PR. Me leta-mazor Ptr ti telman for sa lepok la ki zot fini par gayn parsiel la an Me kan zot kandida Willy Dupré bat Alex Bhujhoharry, kandida Parti Morisyin. Sa anter PR pu de bon.

Inpe letan avan li mor, Guy ti prezid en komite egzekitif ki ti expilse so frer Philippe depi dan Ptr akoz li ti vot ansam ek ban konservater dan Konsey Lezislatif an faver PR. Navin Ramgoolam abitie rakont en zistwar ki ti derule kot SSR lari Deforz kot sipozeman Guy ti tret Philippe de tret e ti bez li en kudpwin. Par kont zame Navin rakont expilsion Philippe depi Ptr.

Reform elektoral se en zafer mari konplike e tu sanzman a nu exselan system elektoral bizin pas par omwin de referandum. Promie referandum la pu san-angazman (non-binding) e deziem la avek-angazman. Me avan sa bizin ena ban bon kanpayn edikasion lepep ek ban diskision aproprie. Mon pibliye en ameliorasion elegan nu exselan system elektoral an Desam 2025 e an Oktob 2024 mo ti pibliye en gid ki parmi enta zafer explike kuma system elektoral rant dan striktir guvernans en pei.

Five Key Ingredients For a Vibrant Democracy

1. First-past-the-post (FPTP) system to have strong and stable governments that form fast after general elections and don’t collapse after partner(s) leave winning alliance. Temporary lopsided results we got a few times can be mitigated with prudent tweak without making bloated Parliament bigger or suppressing dissent with stupid anti-defection legislation. 

2. Progressive taxation (PT) and top tax rates at the right level (35%) instead of a ruinous flat tax (FT) of 15% for better economic growth and distribution after savings culture resuscitated, good drains, 24/7 water, halving of road fatalities fast, preservation of our world-famous views and harmony and respect of nature.

3. Recall elections (RE) to get rid of incompetent politicians within months and not five years. Cheap. Only Rs30m. The cost of a by-election. Expect better behaviour after we use it a couple of times. Think of it as excellent meksin laryaz. 

4. Statute referendums (SR) to reverse toxic policies or anti-patriotic ones and to get rid of Presidents. Relatively cheap. Rs300m. Would have prevented Rs300bn government revenue shortfall and GDP gap of Rs1.5tn at the end of 2018. And tense celebrations of Mauritius@50.  

5. Initiated constitutional amendment (ICA) to get rid of the BLS, allow kreol in our Parliament, prevent holders of constitutional posts from leaving with hefty benefits in all cases and impose term limits on PM and other important posts.

Second ingredient will allow us to resume a much better development path like between 1968 and 2005. Ingredients three and four will improve the situation further and will be infinitely better than what we’ve experienced after ultra liberal policies were implemented thirteen years ago. Their combined use may make ICA redundant as common sense would have made an interesting return. 

Berenger (PB), Ramgoolam (NR), Jugnauth (PJ), Sithanen (RS), Subron (AS) and Boolell want proportional representation (PR) to push us into an autocracy. That’s a situation where they implement toxic policies and it’s a lot harder to keep them out of parliament. But it’s wonderful for political dynasties. We don’t want this. 

How Mature Are Mauritian Voters?

Quite mature and increasingly so. We just need to look at the calm environment in which our elections take place. Plus voters have proceeded with five changes of government (see 1) with four of these happening in the past twenty-three years. These were made a lot easier by our FPTP system which produced clear winners immediately in ten out of eleven general elections – it took a tiny bit more time to form a government in 1976. And given how we massively rejected the wicked plan of a scheming trio in December 2014 it is natural that proposed changes to our electoral system be put to us in a referendum and not decided in parliament as it smacks of a conflict of interest. Especially when they will seriously blunt a weapon we've used to keep several politicians out of our National Assembly including the five who have been our PMs. And open the door for all kinds of additional abuse in these times of passport sale and ministerial eye-test.

Lepep Had Promised Several Referendums

In its electoral manifesto (see p7). The PM should forget about several and instead organise one with some crucially important questions like in the chart below. I can't think of more important issues like tax structure and electoral reform. We know what the flat tax has done to the finances of our government and to the country. We are also aware how lucky we are to have such a good constitution. Hey, it has produced clear winners immediately after 10 out 11general elections and stable government after stable government. That's no small benefit for a SIDS like us. Plus we are very mature voters. We have handled five changes of government with four of these happening in the past 23 years. No small feat. So ask us what we think. And get our permission.

Organising a referendum will also bring two major advantages to Lepep. The first one is to avoid a catastrophe in a year by getting precious feedback from voters now for an immediate course-correct. The second one is to be the first government to organise a referendum. That's some bragging rights. If the questions are genuine that is.

Lepep Tram Unlikely Biggest Project Ever

Kind of obvious if you have listened carefully to some of the numbers used by Minister Bodha on the same day George Chung deemed that the controversial tram project was basically riskless. As you might not have the figures mentioned six months ago to show the savings over two projects – not exactly the same ones – that were initially promoted by the Labour Party are copied in the table below. 

Given that the road decongestion program (RDP) will spend about Rs3 billion every year for a handful of years and that it will not be the first time nor the last that billions will be wasted to fight the traffic Frankenstein – which is growing bigger thanks to policy-making which is very clumsy – it shouldn't take long before you hear Mr. Bodha's successors announce that the RDP has overtaken the tram project.

The thing is that these unnecessary projects – which constitute the silly response to problems caused by a growth in the car pool which has been left unchecked for way too long – will not only make Mauritius weaker but will also make her uglier. It will make her weaker because as Intel has reminded us a car stays idle over 90% of the time and that hardly makes it a productive investment. Especially when you consider all the other problems of having too many of them. This explains why Singapore has been shrinking her number of cars to levels not seen in eight years. Mind you we're talking here about a country which has nine people to every car and a GDP per capita more than five times ours. Here we have like six people to every car and foolishly think that we can handle more. And that too when heavy road-users already describe several parts of our road network as an overcrowded barracoon.

These projects will definitely make Mauritius less attractive. Just ask any of the 270 trees of the Promenade Roland Armand. That's too heavy a price to pay for things that don't qualify as smart development especially when we know that the Bus Rapid Transit is a much better alternative that will immediately bring much-needed relief to road users. We should also start to act as a middle-income country – and soon a fifty-year old – by protecting our world-famous views. Just like London has been doing for more than a century. Which explains why the Leadenhall Building had to be built like a cheese-grater.

The least Pravind Jugnauth can do is to organise a referendum on such an important national issue. Making good on one electoral pledge will not only deepen our democracy it will also help avoid total political disaster in the next general election.

2017: The Year in Review

Q1: iPhone turns 10. Voters elect candidates wisely. Oxfam says income for bottom half hasn't grown for past three decades. Average performance for Mauritius. Countries use PISA to improve education system. Nation surprised to learn than history of Labour Party is larger than two Ramgoolams. Citizens evaluate ministers continuously. Metro Express not needed for now. Parliament goes live and direct. Sumputh resigns after PM finds package shocking.

Q2: Splitting the Sithanen toohrooh. Soornack explains how she made it. Le Pen gets closer to L'Elysee. Who is the fastest footballer? Two really dumb reasons we need party lists. Madhuri at fifty. MK said to fly understaffed planes. The Saint dead at 89. How you know you're not a big cat. Taxpayers handed multi-billion rupee bill. Top tax rates go up by 5%. Fighter jets have own sign language.

Q3: Meet the articulated bus. Referendum legislation can help avoid mayhem. Chester found dead. Singapore knows plenty. How Fowdar can help our democracy. Cleaners earning Rs1,500 per month have reason to smile. World discovers the SJ Theatre. Easy for Mauritius to boost its GDP by half. FPTP system allows general election to have recall component.

Q4: Why Mauritius is not in high-income group. Dead animal should be removed from coats of arms. They should be referred to as 30/3 and 3/5. A woman in the front row. Mauritius finds out she has an MP called Tarolah. Use the two o'clock rule to save lives. Simple tools to understand social contracts. Berenger makes new prediction. Podcast to find out things launched. December 2014 was worse than a 60-0. Look who's worried about inequality. 8 questions for voters. Voodoo economist is back. A plan for Mauritius. 4 out 5 voters don't vote for Boolell. 

Our FPTP System Has a Built-in Recall Election

Kind of. But it happens only when there's a general election. Given that politicians can inflict significant damage to our economy or take totally unpatriotic and completely stupid decisions like privatising water a lot faster voters need to be able to boot them out of office anytime between two general elections. So our excellent FPTP system should be improved by equipping it with standard recall elections -- something which Lalit suggested in early 2014.

We also need referendum legislation so our elected governments can ask for our permission on matters of national interest. For example Lepep campaigned against the Metro Leger but it is now proceeding with essentially the same unnecessary project. It should have organised a referendum to ask for our green light first. Same thing for the idiotic idea of privatising the CWA. It's nowhere to be found in their electoral manifesto. We never voted for it. Lepep cannot go ahead with that project before asking us what we think. We are not children. As they found out in Barkly recently.

Of course you realise that party lists and double candidacies are totally incompatible with recall elections. These two contraptions prevent us from deciding which politicians -- some might be inclined to shoot others -- we want to keep out of parliament. It's like a football game without a red card. Or one where selected players show a brown card to the referee to stay on the pitch after being shown a red one. Not a bad idea to make a list of the parties who are in favour of double candidacies so we can avoid them like the plague. Plus there's a by-election soon. So let's start: Rezistans ek Alternativ, ...

Referendum Legislation Could Save Lepep From Electoral Mayhem

Beyond satisfying an electoral pledge it would provide it with important feedback on pressing national issues and opportunities to course correct. For example there is a very wide consensus in our country that we don't need the Metro Express just like saddling the CWA with a management contract is an act of zero governance. While it's true that Government can reverse immediately these two crazy decisions without organising a referendum there are other matters of utmost national interest that it would not want to lump together with a general election. These include electoral reform and the full legalisation of abortion.

Lepep has nothing to lose and everything to gain from deepening our democracy with such a legislation. It knows how smart voters are in seeing through all kinds of wicked schemes. Like the one that was put in front of them in December 2014. And of course a referendum organised before the next by-election would steal a lot of the opposition's thunder plus allow Mauritius to strike something off her bucket list.

How A Referendum Would Deepen Our Democracy

There are some issues that are really fundamental to our well-being and these are better addressed in a referendum. Especially when they are not discussed in manifestoes and electoral campaigns. Here are four.

1. Tax policy can break an economy and send a country to the dogs. Which is what the Sithanen flat tax has done. And that too without asking us for our permission. 

2. Currency policy. Only morons believe that competitive depreciation is Tiger stuff. Plus it matters a whole lot who call the shots at the BoM. For example in 2010 we were told that Manou was coming back. We didn't know depreciation-obsessed Basant Roi would after 2014.

3. Party lists are the equivalent of an English Premier League without red cards. We don't want them.

4. Privatisation of any part of our public utilities or other national assets. A government that wants to sell the CWA or saddle it with a management contract because it doesn't like its hotline is a good-for-nothing government.

Government To Destroy Biometric Database

This piece of good news was announced yesterday in the 2015-2019 Programme Speech. Along with a number of laudable intentions like

• making SC/HSC exams free;
• an SME bank which will invest Rs10 billion over the next five years;
• a minimum wage bill;
• focus on job creation for Mauritians: 15,000 will be created every year with many in the public sector;
• a football academy will be set up;
• ensuring competitive energy prices;
• setting up a vascular surgery unit to reduce the number of amputations;
• and organising referendums on crucial national issues. 

There are also some very vague promises such as 'inflation will be kept under control'. Hmm. An inflation target is a must for two reasons: one to preserve the hard-won anti-inflation capital and two to keep depreciation-happy Basant Roi on a tight leash. Government also wants to include a dose of PR in our electoral system. That's a dangerous proposition that needs extensive debate and a referendum.

Let's see how well this plan is implemented.

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.

Your Free Guide To Recent Additions on The Jag!

Sithanen trying to be funny: he's worried that the savings rate is too low. It's like the dog which is scandalised that the sausages that were left under its supervision are gone. We show the extent of the unmitigated mess created by his severe skills mismatch as Finance Minister and why his story doesn't add up.

Our first piece on electoral reform appeared in April. We show how government has been wasting precious time on this issue and how by adopting the dumb and dangerous Sithanen report we're not going anywhere good. We have a critical look at the criteria the state wants to use and propose a couple. We also list some of the interesting ideas that surfaced.

We connect two dots that have the potential to dramatically shrink our democratic space: the 15% flat tax and the perverse Sithanen Electoral Galimatia (SEG).

In our second piece on electoral reform we show that we don't have to seriously reduce the democratic space to meet the UNHRC ruling and make our excellent FPTP system a little less unfair. We also illustrate how quotas for women translate into a glass ceiling. And that our parliament is already too big. Finally we show how the concept of opposition MPs offers a simple -- not simplistic -- solution.

The third instalment on electoral reform makes the point that the constitutional amendment is flawed. And comes forward with a governance-based alternative. While highlighting the urgency of referendum legislation.

A piece on Gandhi's transformation: from shy person to anything but. With a nice personal story about Filip Fanchette.

SLO Should Immediately Start Working on Referendum Legislation

So that when the Prime Minister is ready to ask the intelligent people of Mauritius what she thinks of changes to the electoral system and to our constitutional set up he will get a clear and wise answer.

So yeah, Ramgoolam gets another big opportunity for us to remember him when he's gone.

Papandreou Wants Greeks To Vote on Rescue Plan

That would happen in January and increase uncertainty substantially. Or things could get out of hand if markets assume that the plan will never be approved by the Greek voters given how often the latter have been in the streets lately. But Papandreou's government may not survive a vote of confidence on Friday.

The effects of Greece defaulting or not implementing the strict austerity measures in the rescue plan are widely expected to be much more severe than when Lehman Brothers defaulted in September 2008. Which was considered as the triggering event of the last global financial recession. Greece is, at about USD300 billion, the 32nd largest economy.

Mauritius should be able to ride through whatever crises happen given how much slack we've got here.

Let the People Speak

Ramgoolam should organise a referendum about whether abortion should be legalised given that he's sticking to his policy of never having any strong opinions about anything except maybe that he should be Prime Minister forever. That's probably about the only way people might miss him if he loses power or his seat in the next general elections.