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Battling over economic forecasts
The electoral campaign may be finished but there are still tensions. Politicians are still fighting over the state of the economy and the state of affairs as if there was a victory to be won at the end.
After the minister of Finance, Rama Sithanen, accused his predecessor, Pravind Jugnauth, of hiding real statistics on economic growth from the public, the latter could not refrain from reacting. Although he had said he would not comment upon the government’s decisions before its first 100 days in power had expired, he held a press conference last week to reply to Rama Sithanen. It is true that the latter was the one to start the attacks and his opponent must have felt bound to react.
Pravind Jugnauth strongly denies the fact that he used a “colourable device” to hold the budget deficit. According to Rama Sithanen, the former minister of finance made annual provisions to pay interest on the public debt – the aim being to postpone all payments for three years.
In such a context, Rama Sithanen says the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth can’t be 5.1% as Pravind Jugnauth had claimed. He thinks GDP will not go beyond 4%, which confirms the Mauritius Commercial Bank forecasts for 2005 for a growth of 3.8%.
For the good of the country</B>
Though Pravind Jugnauth admits there are tough times ahead with the drop in EU sugar export prices and the difficulties already present in the textile sector, he nevertheless sticks to his point. “If the current government keeps the decisions we made about making Mauritius a duty-free island, the growth will be 5.1%.”
He also asserts he made these decisions in all transparency. He said that the Loans Act had been discussed in Parliament and that Rama Sithanen had had plenty of time to criticise the debt extensions over a three-year period – as recommended by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He however hoped – for the good of the country – that the public deficit wouldn’t go beyond 3% of the GDP.
The opposition seems to have its heart set on the good of the country. This is what its leader, Paul Bérenger, said about the eventual solving of the conflict between the president of the Republic, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, and the prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam.
Unfortunately, this crisis doesn’t seem to be coming to an end. Each side seems to be sticking to its guns. The President doesn’t look ready to leave the State House while the PM continues to snub the President each time he has the opportunity. The attorney general, Rama Valayden, made it clear that the “president should step down”.
The last blunder was the absence of the government for the presentation of medals to some distinguished Mauritian citizens. Not a single minister turned up at the State house for the ceremony. After the PM had found excuses not to come to the State House where he was expected on several occasions, this absence was in fact expected. It was only one among many.
The President however apparently remained very serene. “Everyone is free to do whatever he wants.” But the coup de grâce is expected on Friday with the speech (Presidential Address) at the National Assembly. Traditionally, the President is the one who reads the speech but he has not been invited to do so up to now. The apparent lull may well take another turn by the end of this week…
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<B>Election results disputed in court</B>
Raj Ringadoo, Louis Hervé Aimée and Meckduth Chumroo, candidates of the Social Alliance, are asking the Supreme Court to cancel the polling results in their respective constituencies. They allege that MSM-MMM elected candidates in constituencies n° 8 (Quartier Militaire-Moka) and n°14 (Savanne-Rivière-Noire) obtained votes through electoral bribery. Raj Ringadoo says that Ashok Jugnauth and other officials, made promises to electors to make sure the latter would vote for him – he mentions, among other bribes, the employment of the 388 health care assistants. Louis Hervé Aimée and Meckduth Chumroo accuse Alan Ganoo of having promised plots of land to squatters in Le Morne in the presence of the two other MSM-MMM candidates, Danielle Perrier and Maya Hanoomanjee.
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