In a speech made in Berlin just before the fall of the wall, the then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher said: ?You may chain a man ? but you cannot chain his mind. You may enslave him ? but you will not conquer his spirit (?) But the day comes when the anger and the frustration of the people is so great that force cannot contain it. Then the edifice cracks; the mortar crumbles? one day, liberty will dawn (?)? This was in October 1982. The world has moved on since.

We are not in Berlin and, in more ways than one, liberty has dawned on the world. My goodness, we even have elections here ? the very height of liberty. A working democracy. But, twenty-three years later, the issues raised by Thatcher are still relevant. The people are still being chained, if not physically. The people are still enslaved, if not openly. The force is there; the difference is, with the beauty of democracy, we ourselves have put them there. But we have been had, you see. The illusion is almost perfect; the people hold the power. What?s the saying again? ?Vox populi vox dei?? Yes, the people choose. But once they choose, there ends their say in the matter.

The examples are many. Let?s use a most recent one. While thousands are toiling everyday and striving to keep up a living, a former chief justice and two of his assessors get rewarded the handsome sum of ?Rs 5 millions (to share between themselves) to preside over a commission of inquiry on the practice of the sale by levy. While the same people are being taken for a ride and being told the economic situation is in the red, the State spends a fortune to host the SIDS conference. When a bomb explodes in Grand-Bay, the people are told to ?keep cool? because it was all a regrettable incident caused by gas. Regardless of the fact that the FSL report said otherwise. The chapter is then closed.

When questions are asked in Parliament, pertaining to matters of public interest (concerning police inquiries that end prematurely or are forever ongoing or the situation in the prisons or even the public spending ? or waste of taxpayers? money), ministers and their ?primus inter pares? choose to either refuse to disclose the information or selectively withhold - deliberately or otherwise - such information. I could go on. The list is indeed long. Put in simple terms, this is what I understand by the establishment?s action: ?You can say whatever you want, you can do as you please but we hold the power and, if you resist, this awesome power will break you.? We are just fools for not having understood the message earlier.

An appointment has been taken for the ?vox dei? to speak its wishes. Chances are the next government will keep up the tradition and keep us chained. It has always been so, why should it change now? Maybe it will, only time can tell. All this is a little bit sad, isn?t it? But don?t they say that sadness rhymes with gladness? And what else is there for us to do while we are awaiting the ?anger and frustration of the people? prophesied by Maggie and which brought down the fall of the Berlin wall? As they say, ?dare to dream?. In the hope that someday, not too far in the future, liberty will dawn?