The political scene is on the move again. Hardly one month after the general elections, which consumed the energy of both politicians and citizens, the opposition is getting ready to face local government elections this time. The government has also said that the latter will not be held in 2006 as planned by its predecessors but will take place “as soon as possible”. In political circles, 25th September has been mentioned.

The minister of local government, James Burty David, will introduce the Local Government (Amendment) Bill in Parliament tomorrow to bring forward the date of the elections. Although the government has not decided yet, everything points to the fact that the municipal elections will be held before Ramadan starts. And the last Sunday before Ramadan is 25th September.

There was a meeting between officers of the government and of the electoral commission to discuss a tentative date. The commission thinks that a two-month period is necessary to organise such elections. As for village elections, they should take place at the end of November or the beginning of December.

The MSM-MMM is already thinking of sending major members of the alliance on the front to try and stop the “red surge.” The opposition is thinking about sending former ministers like Steven Obeegadoo or Leela Devi Dookhun for these elections. Ashok Jugnauth could be sent to Port-Louis.

<B>The PM intends to start the session with a motion just meant to approve the contents of the Presidential Address.</B>

Tomorrow’s session in parliament should be the first “lively” one since the government’s accession to power. The minister of Social Security, Sheila Bappoo, will introduce her National Pensions (Amendment) Bill aimed at restoring universal pension – thus putting an end to the targeted approach adopted by the former government.

The opposition also intends to ask a certain number of questions especially on the admission procedures to Form I for the next school year, price increases and the squatters’ issue. But one of the most important issues of this session could well be the “vote of no confidence” that Paul Bérenger may introduce if Navin Ramgoolam does not respect the traditions of Parliament.

According to the opposition leader, the debates should start with a motion of thanks to the president of the Republic for the reading of the Presidential Address by a backbencher of the majority. However, the PM intends to start with a motion just meant to approve the contents of the Presidential Address.

For Paul Bérenger, this is just a way of insisting on the conflict opposing the president to the PM once more. “Instead of governing the country as they should, they just waste their time in petty acts.” If the PM insists on introducing his motion, this would put an end to a long tradition, which has existed since 1977. Paul Bérenger expects the speaker, Kailash Purryag, to make the PM change his mind. If he doesn’t do so, he will put forward his vote of no confidence against the speaker.

<B>Prime minister reaffirms commitments</B>

The prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, was the guest at a dinner organised by the Chinese community at Heritage Court in Port-Louis. He seized the opportunity to reaffirm the commitments taken during the campaign and state the top priorities of his government. First, the PM intends to take all necessary steps to reduce the time investors have to wait to obtain a permit. He gave several examples to explain how slow the process to obtain an investor’s permit in Mauritius is and explained that he had already started to change the situation. Xavier Luc Duval and Rajesh Jeetah will be among the members of a committee to study ways of avoiding long delays in securing a permit. Likewise, the PM will chair another committee that will follow-up on all major projects. The other hobbyhorse of the PM seems to be the solving of road congestion to Port-Louis. He firmly said that he would take quick decisions and might start work quickly “even if there are critics”. He also made it clear that he would work according to existing reports on various issues and would not commission new ones.