In the very early hour of this momentous general election day in our country I could not refrain from heaving a deep sigh of relief. At last, the ordinary people of this land will find a respite from the worst pollution that has been afflicting them for months now.

The unwholesome sound and fury, the staged comedy of lies, deceits, spiteful attacks, and manipulation that our mainstream politicians and opinion leaders have locked us in de facto in their quest for naked political power.

To paraphrase Shakespeare with regard to our elite political class: ‘Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air’. When the dice will have been cast today and the results known tomorrow, the same scenario for upholding club interests will sooner reappear: ‘When shall we three meet again…. in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won’! Believe me more challenging and nasty than the election campaign itself, will be the aftermath management of the election results and the permutation and horsetrading that will ensue to make room for the competing self-interests aboard the winning ship. Then and only then shall we discover the true cohesion and strength of those high-sounding campaign pledges to put people and nation first. Indeed, our mainstream politicians have been playing dice with the destiny of the common people,more or less consistently, since our Independence, and worse, since the advent of a makeshift Republican arrangement in our midst.

While it will be relatively easy to get the scavenging teams to clean up our country of the visual and physical pollution that accompanies our elections folklore, I wonder if it will be ever possible to wipe away the damage that the pollution of constant lies and manipulation leaves unto our individual and collective psyche?

 If, obsessed with the greed for power and self-aggrandizement, we cannot show respect and compassion to our people (especially, the gullible, naïve and most vulnerable ones), I shall appeal to our ruling politicians to, at least, spare our planet earth and our blessed motherland the negative impact of their uncontrolled and uncontrollable impulses for raw power and domination. Whatever the outcome of the elections, I shall foremost pray and wish the best to our country and those true patriots who carry in their bosom the values of a common humanity. To all the leaders in waiting for Prime ministership, I insist that you show us that you want to be effectively a Prime Minister OF Mauritius, and not just a Prime Minister IN Mauritius!