May Day in Mauritius is quite unique. It is officially called Labour Day and political leaders make it a point to pay tribute to those who have fought for the plight of labourers. But labourers are not the priority; they have not been for a long time. They are nonetheless the ideal pretext for political gatherings.

The single most important issue on Labour Day has to do with numbers. How many supporters have each major political party managed to attract? To do so, all sorts of manoeuvres are resorted to; free buses, a token sum of money, varying according to the means of the political parties, alcoholic beverages, food - usually briani - and a free trip to the beach. Freebies are also distributed in the form of coloured T-shirts - red, purple or orange - and flags. Musical instruments are distributed on the buses so that when ?supporters? get off the buses, the illusion is complete; the impression is given that they are hardcore party supporters who have braved the heat and sacrificed a nice day at the beach with friends and family.

?If anything, substance is completely lacking from the discourses; substance is not required. It is just a matter of reassuring supporters that their hopes are not unfounded, that they will soon be in power again... so they will all soon be taken care of.?

The fact is - and political party leaders know this - it is not the crowd that determines the strength - or lack of - of a political party. The psychological impact of a big crowd is important, however, because the perception is that indecisive voters will rally to the perceived stronger party. Except that there are no general elections scheduled anytime soon. This important detail doesn?t seem to matter though. Listening to Paul Bérenger?s MMM, one gets the impression he is getting ready for elections; he has already introduced a hypothetical minister of Finance, a hypothetical minister for Foreign affairs? and a hypothetical ambassador to France.

If anything, substance is completely lacking from the discourses; substance is not required. It is just a matter of reassuring supporters that their hopes are not unfounded, that they will soon be in power again? so they will all soon be taken care of. The strategy is dubious, stinks of political incorrectness but it works with the crowd; ultimately this is the only thing that matters.

Mid-way through their mandate, the Alliance Sociale, in Vacoas on Tuesday, went to great lengths to explain to their supporters why Bérenger is not good for the country, why he shouldn?t be trusted and why he should be kept out.

This begs the question; Bérenger is out and will be for the next three years. Why has the matter suddenly gained such an importance? It is not known but it fits in perfectly with the impression that Mauritius is perpetually engaged in electoral campaigning. This state of affairs is not conducive to good governance. Political leaders know it but this knowledge will not be put to good use; it is a matter of political survival or rather it is about the essence of all major Mauritian political parties; they are engaged in this business to be in power; opposition does not interest anyone. Although Labour leader, Navin Ramgoolam, regularly points out that he has no problem with opposition contrarily to his rival, Bérenger.

This is the recurrent criticism of Ramgoolam towards Bérenger. ?He is thirsty for power, ha cannot wait for his turn. This is why he will do his utmost to create instability in the country?, says in substance Navin Ramgoolam. Whether this is true or not is a matter of appreciation; it depends on where one stands. The worrying thing, however, is that the Alliance Sociale is spending a lot of energy stopping goals from getting into the net.

The populace get entangled in this game; the minute the going gets tough, as it is bound to be, they call for general elections and threaten to switch loyalties.

This is why the number game is so important to political parties and the reason why they will bicker ad infinitum every beginning of May.