<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

No, Showkutally Soodhun was not questioned by the police last Thursday. He is right on this one; this is about the only thing he has been right about, these past few days.

Showkutally Soodhun, an MP, was at a meeting in a mosque in Quatre Bornes on Wednesday night, he did grab the mike and he did address the audience. He was seen and he was heard. By everyone present including journalists and officers of the secret service.

But last Friday saw an indignant Soodhun, suddenly hit by amnesia, meet the press at the Sun Trust building. Rarely has such a display of bad faith been made. Clearly Soodun thought he could easily transfer his amnesia to people. Except that he has fooled no one, save maybe his leader, Pravind Jugnauth. He allowed Soodhun to use the party?s name to hold a press conference at the party?s seat during which the latter was supposed to clear his name and deny any negative role in the whole vile incident.

How cowardly.

Faced with the same problem, MMM?s deputy leader Jayen Cuttaree at least had the decency to ensure that Sam Lauthan would not be present at the press conference the party held on Thursday.

It seems expecting political leaders to publicly take on their irresponsible and dangerous members when they have gone too far ? and especially when the party has belatedly remembered it should act responsibly ? would be asking too much. But pretending that nothing has happened and that one?s deputy leader has not been a party to such a campaign and putting the blame on others, is going, I believe, one step too close to indecency.

As far as the ?others? are concerned ? namely Shakeel Mohamed ? he will have a lot of explaining to do when he gets back. Funny by the way, how one decides that something is so important that it warrants all the time and effort Mohamed has put into putting together the ?platform? and then how the next day, the event loses of its importance to such an extent that Shakeel Mohamed flies to France. Especially after having taken the ?commitment?to have Government amend regulations on the 10th of April.

But come on; we are not ever going to get any explanations. They don?t owe us any, remember? So we are allowed to draw our own conclusions. In their desperation for the limelight, these MPs have played with fire, showing an ignorance of today?s society that would be laughable had it not been so pathetic.

When they have realised that the baby had turned into a monster, they have simply bailed out as only cowards do. Spineless cowards now engaged in playing the blame game and the denial game.

They need not waste too much of their energy.

For they will never live this down.