The Action Liberale formed in 1907 was not a party as such but a blossoming of anti-oligarchic elements who hoped to snatch power from the white establishment at that time led by Sir Henri Leclezio. The leader of the Action Liberale was Dr Eugene Laurent, member of the Council, several times Mayor of Port Louis, and a flamboyant politician whose stronghold was Port Louis. Long before Guy Rozemont and Gaëtan Duval were to emerge as a superstar politician, Laurent was the darling of the Creole population. The Action Liberale had also within its rank some elements of the white community like Edouard Nairac and Anatole de Boucherville who nurtured a different line of thinking in stark contrast to the conservative ethos displayed by the oligarchy. Building a semblance that the population in general resented oligarchic domination, Laurent tried to pull the Indian community in the grand alliance. But the Indian community was still limping. Politics was not its cup of tea yet. It had no leaders of its own and Manilal Doctor during his passage here was like a ?guest? leader.

The Action Liberale kicked off as early as 1907 its campaign for the general election due in January 1911. The theme it harped on: the colony was in an urgent need for a Royal Commission to enquire in the finances of the sugar industry. That campaign was to be peppered with a pet cliché that clings even today - the exploitative nature and growing richness of the whites at the expense of the poor.

Eugene Laurent knew that since 1897 the Chamber of Agriculture had evoked the financial difficulties the sugar industry was running in and that the home government was approached to advance a loan of f 600,000. He also knew the reluctance of Lord Elgin, the Secretary of state, to grant any assistance from the British treasury. Lord Elgin would rather urge the government of Mauritius to find ways and means to tide over its financial difficulties by resorting to massive cuts in spending and levying of additional taxation. But the Governor, Sir Cavendish Boyle, would rather give his support to the sugar industry and pressed with the Colonial office for the loan to be granted. Lord Elgin agreed provided there was a Royal Commission to enquire in the administration of the colony and the expenses were to be defrayed by the local government. The immediate reaction of the sugar industry echoed by Sir Henri Leclezio was one of fear and restlessness. ? It?s absolutely useless. This will have the effect of creating disorder in the island.?

?Le Char de la Vérité?

With this prevailing state of things, the Action Liberale hoped to extract political dividends. The setting up of a Royal Commission of enquiry in the financial condition of the colony became its battle cry.

Having amassed popular support, the Action Liberale was on its way to upset the apple cart. Would it succeed?

Indeed, two members of the Action Liberale, Rene Merandon and Willie Dawson acclaimed by a crowd of well-wishers set off from the Place d?Armes, Port Louis, on a tour of the island in an ox-driven cart dubbed ?Le Char de la Verité.? Their mission was to mobilize public opinion on the mismanagement of the colony, the opulence of the oligarchy and the necessity for a Royal Commission to be appointed. The tour in the south was concluded by a public meeting at Souillac. The oligarchy became the chief target of their attacks. ? Le roi fine tande qui ena couillonade dans ca pays la. Li pou envoye so dimoune pou cone au ziste qui ena, qui na pas. Ca meme banne grands blancs en colere. Zot na pavle enan ene l?enquete....?, lashed out Merandon, carrying the audience to a frenzy of exultation.

It was also stressed that Mauritius was ripe for self-rule. The salary of the Governor (Rs 75,000 per annum) came under attack. Inefficiency and wastage of funds were cited in several departments. It was taxpayers? money, they said, that was going in the drain. ?L?arzent taxe ! L?arzent qui tout dimoune paye???

In the Council of Government in February 1909, Laurent and Leclezio exchanged heated arguments. Laurent then tabled a motion requesting the Secretary of state to appoint at the earliest a Royal Commission as the government was experiencing difficulties in redressing the sad state of things. The white establishment could not do otherwise than support the motion. A resolution was transmitted to the Secretary of state expressing the desire of the Council for a Royal Commission to be appointed as proposed earlier by Lord Elgin.

The success of this move was put to the credit of Laurent and the pro-Action Liberale press carried headlines referring to the ?capitulation? of Henri Leclezio. In June 1909, the Royal Commissioners assigned with the task of enquiring in the condition and resources of the island reached Mauritius and were greeted by an impressive crowd led by Laurent at the Chien de Plomb. The Action Liberale regarded it as a triumph that it was able to obtain a Royal Commission. What the Commission did after hearing all concerned and visiting estates was to recommend a host of economic measures which in today?s context any Economist would have done so easily. Estate owners who were worried about getting a red card came out with more than a clean sheet. But not the inhabitants of the island. Though not in the official report, Sir Frank Swettenham, the man heading the Royal Commission, would write later in one of his observations that the people of Mauritius ?are profoundly lazy? except a small class - the journalists of the ten newspapers. In an island where ?the high life is politics, journalists,? wrote Sir Frank, ?show exceptional energy by furnishing entertainment so punctually every morning and almost every evening.?

Chinese shops looted

The real test for the Action Liberale was to come in January 1911 when the general election took place. The oligarchs trounced the Action Liberale on a 8/2 score. Dr Eugene Laurent and Edouard Nairac were the only two Action Liberale?s candidates elected in the Port Louis constituency. They defeated the oligarchs, Sir William Newton and Victor Ducasse. The oligarch press attributed the election of Nairac to Muslim votes and kept referring to him as ?Hadjee Nairac?. A stunning defeat was that of Rene Merandon, the moving spirit of the Action Liberale, opposite Louis Souchon at Rivière du Rempart.

In Curepipe, the election of the oligarch, Amand Esnouf over Anatole de Boucherville led to a street procession taken out by Esnouf?s supporters. The appearance of Eugene Laurent in his coach cutting in front of the procession was considered a provocation and led to an outburst of violent reaction from the supporters of Esnouf. They in turn gave chase to Laurent?s coach. In the night, rumours spread like wild fire that Laurent had been assassinated. Angry supporters of the Action Liberale in Port Louis in a retaliatory move went on a rampage, ransacking office buildings and shops and molesting with sticks members of the white community. The offices of the newspapers Le Radical and Le Cerneen were stoned. A great number of Chinese shops in Port Louis were looted and set on fire. Despite the assurance given by Nairac that Laurent was safe and sound, tempers were fever hot. Supporters wanted to see Laurent in flesh and blood. Calm was restored only when Laurent met them in the Champ de Mars and raising his hands up exclaimed: ?Paix, mon peuple !?

The election saw the eclipse of the Action Liberale in its very first electoral foray though it commanded wide popular support. The hope of a large section of the population to have a say in the affairs of their country evaporated in the thin air. The oligarchy emerged as powerful as ever. It could sleep undisturbed thanks to the 1885 Constitution. It was this encrusted citadel of 1885 that stalwarts like Maurice Cure, Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, Guy Rozemont and Seewoosagur Ramgoolam fought hard in the 1940s to overthrow. It went down like the Berlin wall. In 1911, the large supporters of the Action Liberale could just attend public meetings and take their leaders round on their shoulders but to oust the oligarchy, they needed to vote and this they could not do until 1948. Eugene Laurent left Mauritius in 1919 to try his fortune in England. Mauritius lost one of its most brilliant medical practitioners, let alone a politician. The Action Liberale was disbanded only to remain a footnote of history.