After Sylvio Michel resigned as minister of Fisheries, the vacancy has given rise to covetousness. Four candidates already see themselves in his seat and some have even started their “lobbying”. All of them are, however, hanging onto the prime minister’s every word as it is his prerogative to choose the minister. They have already said they will bow to this decision.

Françoise Labelle was the first one mentioned and she seems to be the great favourite in this race. With the the PM’s announcement at his party’s celebration of its 35th anniversary on Sunday, (see inset) that the number of women in the cabinet is not sufficient, the choice is becoming quite obvious. She would be the second woman in the cabinet after Arianne Navarre-Marie.

However, Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) members as well as some Mauritian Militiant Movement members expressed their discontent when they heard that Françoise Labelle could be appointed Fisheries minister. She hasn’t commented on the issue so far and prefers to wait for the PM’s decision rather than discuss a hypothetical nomination. The MSM leader, Pravind Jugnauth also spoke with caution. “The Verts-Fraternels have been the allies of the MSM.”

Another MMM member is in the fray and hasn’t hesitated to express his intentions. He relies on his experience as a politician and his knowledge of the field. “This sector is one of my main preoccupations and my constituency includes a lot of fishermen,” Jean-Claude Barbier says.

Gérard Paya, Curepipe-Midlands MP, is not very experienced in politics and is a professional in the tourism sector. He, however, insists, as an MSM member, that Sylvio Michel was one of this party’s partners in the alliance. “His seat should logically be granted to an MSM member.”

Everyone seems convinced that he/she deserves the post. Maurice Allet, leader of the Parti Mauricien Socialiste Démocrate also believes that he should get the seat but he is not really campaigning. His intentions have been made clear without things being spelled out.

Paul Bérenger was the first to announce that Sylvio Michel would soon leave the government – even before the latter himself – but he has not commented on the resignation so far.

Sylvio Michel thinks the PM “has anticipated his departure from the government (…) All this shows how difficult our struggle within the government was during these four years.” The former minister and his party members have the bad impression that the government cared very little about the Verts-Fraternels.

He castigated both the MMM and the MSM leaders saying that they have broken their promises contained in the electoral program. The latter insist on the fact that they only promised to back any international commitment on the question of compensation but nothing more.

Moreover, they said they proposed a special committee to deal with the compensation of both slave descendents and descendents of Indian indentured labourers. The Verts-Fraternels rejected this proposal as they say these sections of the population taken together represent a very large number of people and it would have been impossible to pay all of them. They consider that the government has betrayed them. Their choice is now between going alone to the next elections or joining the opposition parties… Never again with the alliance in power, they assert!

<B>Nostalgic celebration</B>

The Congress for the 35th anniversary of the MMM attracted some 4,000 people in Réduit last Sunday. All the ingredients for a great event were there but, once again, there was something missing. This celebration showed that neither the leader nor the party are what they used to be. No spectacular speech or concrete proposals that would help solve economic and social problems. Only an opportunity for the government to say what it has done for the country. Even the leader, Paul Bérenger, seems more eager to deal with day-to-day problems than to bring out a real strategy to push the country forward, which used to be the ideology of the party once. The government has made undeniable efforts to lift a lot of people out of poverty. But a great deal remains to be done. The political party that used to make young people dream of a better future doesn’t have the same passion. The population doesn’t feel there is a possible renewal of political life. Is it lack of ideas or of motivation? Anyway, the leaders should find a way of discovering new avenues for progress.