The electoral campaign launched on May Day with the announcement of the date of the polls does not seem to have really taken off with both alliances taking ages to set up their official lists. Yesterday they had to jump into the arena as it was the Nomination Day.

The past weeks have thus been spent in endless attacks against one another as well as power games in the dealings of the multi-party coalitions when what the public was waiting for was constructive and concrete proposals. People – especially undecided voters want to see - once and for all – each coalition’s manifesto.

The official announcements of candidates’ lists was quite low-key. Last week, when the opposition introduced its candidates, it did not arouse the expected agitation, even from the ruling alliance. This list should have caused some worry to the ruling alliance, as it was expected to propose to the country all that it has been promising for the past five years.

However, it seems that the candidates of the social alliance did not have the expected impact. And for a good reason! The leader of Labour, the main party of the social alliance, did have quite a few problems satisfying his numerous partners. Moreover, he admitted that the leaders of the six parties all had claimed their share, which he had found impossible to satisfy totally. Navin Ramgoolam agreed to part with some party seniors who had proved their worth in the past, to avoid frustrating his other partners.

Between the list presented last week and the official list submitted yesterday, there has been only one change: the Labour candidate in Beau-Bassin-Petite-Rivière, Lucien Finette, was replaced by a PMXD candidate, Percy Laxade. This last-minute change occurred since supporters had also insisted on the latter’s candidature in this constituency.

It was of course an opportunity for the opposition to say how “humiliated” the PMSD has been by the ruling alliance as it has obtained only one ticket. Its leader, Maurice Allet, is indeed the only one who has a chance of being elected.

<B>The main problem of the social alliance may actually not be with its partners but with its potential electors. Some candidates chosen have been subject to much controversy.</B>

The main problem of the social alliance may actually not be with its partners but with its potential electors. Some candidates chosen have been the subject of much controversy. The fact that Jean-François Chaumière was transferred to La Caverne-Vacoas after working for Port-Louis North-Long Mountain for more than four years has made a lot of supporters angry. All this led to protests in front of Navin Ramgoolam’s office last week. However, the opposition leader had made it clear, from the very beginning, that there would not be major changes despite palpable discontent. He thus stuck to his list except for Beau-Bassin.

On the government’s side, things have not been easier. PM Bérenger had also declared how difficult it had been to finalise its list and satisfy both candidates and activists of the MSM and the MMM. There must have been problems but the list presented by the ruling alliance has been less controversial. The only change between the initial presentation and yesterday is the replacement of Abdool Issimdar who has opted out because of health problems, by Siddick Maudarbocus in Riviére-des-Anguilles. Furthermore, the court verdict committing Dev Hurnam to the Assizes, has seen his replacement by Leela Devi Auleear.

Maybe the leaders have managed to convince everyone that this list is the best possible in the present context, or maybe the fact that there are only two main parties in the alliance has made things easier. The most plausible explanation may come from the fact that they are the outgoing government and the social alliance is the opposition.

As such, they were expected to bring in real and concrete change – supposed to be for the best for the country. They had made so many promises about the radical changes they would bring in as soon as they came to power that the population had thought their list would be so strong that it would leave no chance to the outgoing alliance. Now, even their greatest supporters have threatened to abstain or even vote for the government.

This may be the reason why the campaign has dragged so much… Both sides feel they will have problems convincing the electorate to vote for them. They no longer have much choice now; they have only 33 days left… and they had better get down to serious matters

<B>Guidelines for private radios</B>

The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has established guidelines for private radios during this electoral campaign. It wants radio stations to be “fair, equitable, balanced, accurate, and impartial towars all parties, alliances and independent candidates” in the treatment of political activities and the presentation of political programmes. The aim is not to broadcast all the speeches of politicians – thus exposing themselves to slander – but to broadcast what “the public has the right to know.” In fact, the main points of the guidelines are already part of the regulations private radios have to follow, that is a balanced treatment of political news. Although we have not really seen the ruling alliance in a live radio debate so far, the secretary general of the MSM, Nando Bodha and his MMM counterpart, Ivan Collendavelloo, both guarantee that they are in favour of such debates. However, they have asked the IBA to set up a “cahier des charges”, which would be in harmony with operators, stakeholders and the general public before they take part in any debate. The only question is, the IBA being an independent institution, why should one candidate (even if he is from the ruling allaince) impose such conditions? If the government is satisfied with the way it has managed the country for the past five years, it shouldn’t have any problem coming to any radio to defend its future claim for reelection…