“When I was delivering my speech and I looked at Pravind and at my other colleagues, I have to tell you, we are all human and you feel emotion when you think back and realise how much we’ve worked and then you know what friendship is. It is extraordinary.” Those were the words of the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, just after the dissolution of Parliament last Saturday. To a certain extent this is a feeling shared by many. Anyone present could not have failed to be moved by the closing of the Third National Assembly - and the sense of history as well.

But that was then. Now as it stands, there is no National assembly and as the prime minister said, “it is time to go back to the people”. How pleasant or unpleasant the experience will be is debatable.

After the duel between Pravind Jugnauth and Navin Ramgoolam, another one is on. Ramgoolam versus Bérenger. “It will be between Berénger and me”, said Navin Ramgoolam, who is preparing to sue Bérenger for slander concerning his supposed connections with Teeren Appa-samy and his millions. He also challenged the latter to “do what he has to do”.

MMM leader Bérenger has instead issued another challenge: “Swear an affidavit to say that the Labour party has nothing to do with the whole affair,” he said at a MMM-MSM public gathering in Goodlands on Saturday. Ramgoolam is prepared to do no such thing and is instead warning his followers to “beware of Berenger because there is no limit to what he will do.” Nothing so far suggests that the tone of the electoral campaign will be any different from what we have been witnessing over the past few days.

<B>Going to a Labour political gathering nowadays is like going to an MMM meeting thirty years ago. If you closed your eyes, you could almost get confused.</B>

PMXD leader Xavier Luc Duval has also made the headlines. As hoped or feared - depending on where you stand - by many, he has not left Ramgoo-lam for Bérenger. The issue, he said, was one of being able to influence a future government and not be a mere puppet… Duval also adds that it was not just a matter of the number of tickets. Latest reports suggest that they may have agreed on nine tickets and three ministries. But what mattered to XLD was to have some influence. By this we understand that he wanted the office of deputy prime minister if the Alliance sociale comes to power. Ramgoolam has been clear on this matter. “There is one constitutional office of DPM. I am prepared to create more depending on the election results”, he told l’express. Duval is happy, Ramgoolam is happy and the MMM-MSM gutted at not having been able to make the most of the unease in the Alliance sociale. And life goes on…

What will make those elections? There are no ideological differences between the two main coalitions. The MSM sprang from the MMM and was formed as a way to oppose the autocratic style of Paul Bérenger. The main reproach in 1982 was that Bérenger was trying to run the country from his political bureau - even though he was not the prime minister. It is reported that it was then Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam who shook SAJ and reminded him that he was the PM and not Bérenger. How true this is we don’t know but, in any case, PM Jugnauth then took hold of himself and threw Bérenger out.

The MSM-MMM agreement in 2000 was a way for SAJ who had come to the end of the road, to bow out gracefully. But the MMM that had made so many people dream of an egalitarian society has today lost touch with its roots, many say. And it is now Labour that wants to fight for the down-trodden. One would argue that this was why it was created but, for many years, Labour was not where you went if you believed in a better life.

Nowadays, singer Zul Ramiah, renowned for his militant political songs, that moved people, highlighted the sorry plight of the worker and made them believe… is singing for the Labour party. So going to a political gathering of Labour nowadays is like going to an MMM meeting, thirty years ago. If you closed your eyes, you could almost get confused. Is it then surprising that today’s Labour is made up of many former MMM members?

The secretary general of the Labour party, Dharam Gokool himself a former MMM, told l’express there was nothing surprising in this and related how the MMM was inspired by the struggle of Labour some thirty years ago. This will be one of the arguments for sure; each party will have to convince its electorate that it cares more than the other. As far as achievements are concerned, MMM-MSM may have the upper hand as they - rightly or wrongly - have an aura of hard-workers whereas Labour is perceived as being slack.

But, at the end of the day, it is bound to boil down to just a choice between Ramgoolam and Bérenger. The considerations leading to this choice are not necessarily pleasant. In any event, the bets are on. The post of manager of the State is vacant and is up for grabs. And the caretaker of the title hasn’t said his last words as far as lobbying is concerned. Rendez-vous is taken for the 1st of May…