I have read the pitifully amateurish Rama-Ramgoolam?s budget and feel compelled to express my views on a budget that is fundamentally flawed and morally and socially repressive.

It reminds me of a patient who is so sick and who is told that to get better, he has to take a powerful medicine. Somehow, he thinks that the more bitter the medicine, the more effective it is going to be, not knowing that he is about to be euthanised.

The basic assumption that by cutting taxes for the rich and powerful, the economy is going to pick up and prosperity is just round the corner is basically absurd. Mauritius does not have a closed economy whereby profits are ploughed back in Mauritius. We have a history of our money being converted into foreign currencies abroad especially as our currency has always gotten weaker compared to any other stable currencies. It is the only way to preserve one?s buying power in the world. Therefore any extra profits gifted by lowering taxes to the rich and their companies will only go out of the country. Just try and find out the foreign assets of the rich and powerful abroad and you will see what I mean.

?It reminds me of a patient who is so sick and who is told that to get better, he has to take a powerful medicine. Somehow, he thinks that the more bitter the medicine, the more effective it is going to be, not knowing that he is about to be euthanised.?

The Rama-Ram budget-fudget also takes aim at the middle-class to make up for the shortfall in tax revenue. May be their golden boys/advisers failed to inform them that in most countries, it is the middle-class that drives the economy and instead of lowering taxes for them, so they can spend more and help the economy, they get punished by having their savings taxed, taxes on their land and anything else that they may want to do to improve their lot, like investing for their pensions (so that they do not have to rely on the Government in their old age) or on their children?s education (also not tax deductible).

The message is simple - hard work and meritocracy will not work and do not bother trying to climb the social ladder and make a better life for yourself as you will be taxed. Instead, keep your money under your mattress and deal in cash and help the underground economy!

Small businesses, usually spurned by the middle class are taxed much more favourably as they are way more efficient at jobs creation and usually better paying jobs than larger companies. A small business in Canada is taxed at around 12% compared to about 40% for a larger company for just that reason. (Even though a pro-government paper recently inaccurately quoted a 40% tax as applying to all businesses in Canada in its prejudicial attempt to prop up its Government masters)

The notion that someone from abroad is going to find the Rama?s budget ?pasti-limon? attractive is a joke! I do not know what Messrs. Ramgoolam and Sithanen are smoking when they hope to attract foreign investors and the Diaspora back! These people value some core values like safety, education, health care, freedom of expression, a trustworthy & law-abiding government free of corruption and providing fair and equal opportunities for all, strong legal and financial institutions. They are not likely to bite at a duty-free car when the rest of the civilized world offers much more in any of the above spheres.

My predictions are that the economy will now deteriorate at a much faster rate and social unrest will only rise with negative impact on Mauritian society as a whole as well as tourism, leading to our best and brightest to again look for better places in the world for themselves and their children. I also do not know if anyone of them has given a thought or two about how climate change which is already upon us is going to affect our shores and the tourist industry in the next 10-20 years. How is air travel, terrorist threats, oil shortages and diseases like the avian flu and chikungunya going to affect what we are gambling on in the tourist industry?

Mauritius must move on from electing professional politicians. The middle-class must not go gently into that goodnight and they must rage and rage against the dying of their kind. They must ask these politicians as to make public as to what they own worldwide and to make public all their sources of income. How do they live when they do not work! Many of them have never held a job for years! To ask the rest of us to make sacrifices for the rich is hypocrisy. Electoral rules must change with spending limits on campaign spending and political donations must be made public. It is a privilege to serve the people, not one?s right. We are not a monarchy but a Republic! Prime ministers should not be allowed to serve for more than two terms in office and leaders must come from our men and women who are successful, working citizens and take honour in serving their nation.

The time has come to question old allegiances and traditions for all those who vote, and men and women of goodwill on both sides of the House must make sure that they are not left on the wrong side of history. They must act and act now and act decisively. To leave change till the next election may be too late for the country and may be for some of them

Dr Bheemdev MEETARBHAN (Canada)