The opposition seems to have woken up. Whether this is positive or negative for the country is not the point but the budget seems to have allowed them to come out of their apparent torpor. More than a week after the budget speech by the minister of Finance, Rama Sithanen, parliamentary debates are still virulent in tone. If they started in a more or less quiet atmosphere, last week’s sessions ended with a walk-out of opposition members on Saturday, due to the minister’s “arrogance”.

Both the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) have kept on saying since the budget was presented that it is a pro-capitalist budget which does not make much effort on the social side. The opposition blames the government for not keeping the promises it made during the electoral campaign.

The reform of the pension system – especially the extension of the retirement age to 65 – is among the main criticisms of the opposition. “Today they are saying that the former regime did not have the guts to reform the pension system but, when we brought changes to the system, what kind of campaign did they put up against us then? A few months later, they reinstated the universal pension saying they wanted to ‘put people first’. Just look at what they are doing now,” claimed the opposition leader, Nando Bodha, on the first day of debates in Parliament.

The opposition is also very critical of the place given to the private sector in the budget, and the way it neglects the most vulnerable members of society. The MMM MP, Jayen Cuttaree, was indeed criticised by the minister of Finance for “playing on people’s emotions”. But the MP’s sole reaction was that he was speaking of a “deeply emotional issue”.

The MMM MP’s emphasis was on the fiscal policy for which the minister has announced a complete reform. According to Jayen Cuttaree, the measures will only help achieve less social justice than the present system. The taxes requested from first-time buyers, the end of tax exemptions on life insurance premiums or the residential property tax are among the main measures that Jayen Cuttaree finds unfair. “Shareholders of big companies will be exempted. They won’t pay any corporate tax and will be exempted. Is this what you call social justice?”, he asked the minister.

But Rama Sithanen remains inflexible and adamant that his budget is aimed at helping the most vulnerable. Not only will the low-income earners (less than Rs 25,000 monthly) no longer pay income tax but the payment of the residential tax also depends on revenue. He made it clear that only well-off citizens will have to pay the tax, that is 10% of residence owners in rural regions.

But the opposition seems to have some problems with this tax - and the fiscal policy generally - since this was the bone of contention leading to their walk-out last Saturday. The opposition started to ask questions about this burning issue when Rama Sithanen said bitingly: “The problem is that there is no doctor or economist on the other side of the House.”

<I>For the first time in a long time, the two opposition parties have shown solidarity. The MMM indeed did not hesitate to follow the MSM when the latter left the assembly after Sithanen’s note of sarcasm.</I>

The opposition members could not stand this note of “sarcasm” from the minister – supported by the prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam. They just walked out of Parliament. It is to be noted that, for the first time in a long time, the two opposition parties have shown solidarity. The MMM indeed did not hesitate to follow the MSM when the latter left the Assembly.

The three parties then improvised a press conference to explain their move. If the MSM and the MMM condemned the arrogant attitude of the minister – “he implies that we do not have any education,” protests MSM member, Joe Lesjongard – the minister of Finance explained that he said this “because they always ask the same questions”. According to him, this is only a “demagogic campaign” and shows “how incompetent the opposition leader is”.

Even though we couldn’t expect the debates to take place in a friendly atmosphere, the arguments in Parliament last week show that there are things that remain unclear in some measures announced in the budget. The public too seems lost in all the technicalities. This could actually be due to the fact that the budget is a total change from the country’s present economic model and the public might have difficulty putting up with all these changes. The minister might have to dedicate more time to provoding information on his new policies and measures during the next few weeks…