<B>By Pauline ETIENNE</B>

Obviously, the Jugnauths have some difficulty keeping their family problems within their own family circle. It is not the first time they are using the media to send messages that should remain in their own sitting rooms. But this time, they have definitely gone beyond any excusable behaviour with the president of the Republic – supposedly “a class above” politics and petty affairs – telling his brother Ashock that “he is no longer his brother” through a corrigendum in l’express.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth must have been really angry when he read in the columns of l’express about ten days ago that he was having discussions with his treacherous brother about the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM). How could anyone believe that he could discuss about his former party with his brother who had left the MSM because he disagreed with Sir Anerood’s son? Anyway, for all those who would have dared believe it, the president could have contented himself with denying the information. The public would then have simply got its own idea of what the situation was.

Instead of that, he, the president, decided to deny the facts and add that he “does not consider Ashock Jugnauth as a relative of his” any more . So, after Lady Sarojini, it is now Sir Anerood’s turn to wash his dirty linen in public…

This problem has been recurrent in the MSM since Sir Anerood’s brother, Ashock, decided to quit the party. The Jugnauth family took it very personally because it was seen as a betrayal by the uncle of his nephew rather than a political decision.

Despite Ashock’s several attempts to remind his family that his decision was based on purely political reasons, everyone seems to have turned a deaf ear. At the time, Lady Sarojini did not hesitate to say, “Our family is hurt and disappointed by Ashock’s attitude. This is real betrayal and I don’t think we will ever be able to forgive him.” And I will not even mention the episode when she campaigned for her son in the last general elections when she realised that the MSM was in a pickle.

At that time, Sir Anerood still managed to keep his distance from his party’s internal affairs – even when his own son was involved. Even though his former party may never have been in such a difficult situation before, he has managed not say a single word since he has been at Réduit. Obviously, he must have lost something of his rigour and straightforwardness since then. He has lost that something that allowed him to stand back from certain situations and that made him the right man in the right place in Réduit.

In fact, he has not interfered in any direct political issue. But what he did might be even more serious. He takes the public as witness of his family crisis and this can make us jump to the most far-fetched conclusions – including that he wants to undermine Ashock Jugnauth, as a politician.

As president of the Republic, he must make sure he has a detached attitude. He used to be the leader of the MSM and it must be extremely hard for him to look at the internal problems of his former party without interfering. But he has accepted his post and must accept the conditions that go with it. Do we have to remind him that he is supposed to be above all this? And do we have to remind him that we have absolutely nothing to do with his family crisis? I am sure that, being the highest institution of the country, the president has already realised that he has committed a faux-pas…