In a country where politics never cease to be like a serial thriller and political parties emerge on the stage with a bang and vanish with their leaders only to remain a footnote of history, the Labour Party, founded by Dr Maurice Curé on 23 February 1936, still keeps going. Yet the party had a difficult ride in the first decade of its formation owing to the reign of terror unleashed by the colonial government. Sir Bede Clifford flexed his muscle against leaders of the party. He wanted to kill the party in its infancy and almost succeeded as, after 1940, the Labour Party went through a comatose existence. It was a Party of tired metabolism, navigating in the wilderness, when Guy Rozemont in his own style gave it a fresh lease of life. But then in the 1950s, internal dissensions and jealousies became rife in the party until Ramgoolam took the lever of control.

For having rattled the government by his island-wide agitations, Curé had to go through an utterly wretched period. The governor, Sir Bede Clifford, decided to strike with all his might. The ?Société de Bienfaisance? which collected funds and was financing the activities of the Party was made illegal and crushed. Next, the government set out to weaken the Labour Party by divesting it of its large Indian supporters through a communal awareness programme. The first of its kind in Mauritius, and skillfully mounted by the newly created Labour Department. Then, Curé?s lucrative medical practice suffered a serious setback reducing him to a state of abject poverty so much so that when he woke up every morning, he was not sure of a day?s meals for him and his family.

As if to keep the pressure going and demoralize the leaders into resignation, Emmanuel Anquetil was deported to Rodrigues.

Such tactics paid off. Curé gave up the leadership of the Labour Party in 1941. Anquetil succeeded him. The Labour Party was able to survive because it had not cut its umbilical link with trade unionism which was indeed an index of its militancy.

While Anquetil was busy immersed in trade union activities, the party itself was not as trenchant as it had been before. Anquetil preferred moderation to confrontation in his approach and this earned him the friendship of officials of the Labour Department where he was engaged in training workers in trade union matters.

But Anquetil was also worried about the government?s possible intention of coming up with a legislation to declare the Labour Party illegal and get it out of circuit. He wrote to his friend Rita Hinden of the Fabian Society to find out with the Under Secretary of State whether the government had any such plan. Hinden wrote him back a reassuring note. There were no such things and he could breathe a sigh of relief. It is possible that because of Anquetil?s soft and conciliatory approach, the government decided it was a waste of time harassing a weak Labour Party which survived and did not endure the same fate as the ?Société de Bienfaisance?.

On the crest of popularity

But then, with Guy Rozemont ta-king the leadership of the Party after Anquetil?s death in December 1946, Labour started to change track. The flamboyant Rozemont known as a stentorian orator singled out mostly government officials and the white bourgeoisie in his relentless attacks. The revision of the Constitution that came in 1945 with an enlarged number of voters for the 1948 election brought about a different thinking in the way to bait out voters. It was the beginning of democracy or should we say ?mobocracy??

The introduction of the party system was to be a key element in the future political development of Mauritius and the British realized that it would be much easier for them to manage sticky situations with party leaders rather than having dozens of independent members of divergent shades and opinions operating in a disorganized manner.

The Labour Party with Rozemont at the helm was the only established party riding high on the crest of popularity. It was whipping up passion with its threat of nationalization of main sectors of the economy. Once shunned by the intellectuals, it became a favourite nestling place for many to try their political fortunes.

Dr Seewoosagur Ramgoolam ha-ving fought the 1948 general elections as an independent candidate decided to cast his lot with the Labour Party in 1950. So did Edgar Millien and Renganaden Seeneevassen but this was hardly to please Curé who blamed Rozemont for letting them in. This brought about a chasm in the relationship between Curé and Rozemont. Curé also criticised Rozemont for his habit of walking with a keg of rum under his arm and for his unbecoming conduct in public. An acrimonious conflict between Rozemont and Curé flared up and Curé was thrown out of the party. At some point of time, Curé thought of forming what he said was a ?New Labour? to finish off those ?faux travaillistes? who had jumped in the bandwagon of the Labour Party of his creation. But the founding father of the Labour Party ended up finding support from Sookdeo Bissoondoyal and even standing as an IFB candidate at elections.

It would seem then that under the leadership of Rozemont in the early 50s, the party was a divided house. A cold war had settled in for the control of the party. It was driven by two factions: Rozemont and Ramgoolam on one side and Seeneevassen and Millien on the other, both groups trying to consolidate their

influence with the blessings of successive governors. On the surface, they all entertained a very warm and friendly relation- ship. At one time, Seeneevassen was not sure of his political career. Was he to form part of the radical left in the party in a bid to oust Ramgoolam later? Nevertheless, the Colonial Office seemed to have up in their sleeves some ?long term plans? for Seeneevassen. Which plans? His untimely death prevented their realization.

Yet, Ramgoolam was giving fears to everybody by his public statements. He was not the chief in the Labour Party but according to observers was acting like one. It was Rozemont who was ruling the roost. The executive committee of the party was largely dominated by Rozemont?s supporters, mostly lower class Creole workers For example, the 1952 executive committee was constituted of 20 Creoles, 7 Hindus and 3 Muslims. Rozemont wielded enormous influence and power at party level that he even dared expel stalwarts like Seeneevassen and Millien from the party. Not a voice was raised against the expulsion. Seeneevassen who studied at the London School of Economics and carved out a reputation as a brilliant lawyer had criticized Rozemont?s executive members as ?manieurs de marteaux.? Rozemont without any tinge of complexity showed him and Millien the red card. Millien drew the fury of Rozemont when he stated that the leader of the Labour Party was not a fit person to sit in the Legislative Council.

Re-organisation

Even Ramgoolam was helpless. What else could he do but lament over what Newton, the Colonial Secretary, remarked as ?fissures? taking place in the party when he wrote in 1952: ? In the meantime all is not well in the Labour Party. Dr E. Millien and Mr R Seeneevassen, despite their close association and cooperation with its executive on all issues, are outside the party? It is a thousand pities that in a such difficult situation there are clashes of personalities within the party.?

Ramgoolam described the situation as ?grave? and wrote it was ?clear that there must be a re-organisation of the Labour Party.? But the re-organisation was to be in the format desired by Ramgoolam. That meant a gradual induction of the intelligentsia ? elements of the general population and Hindu intelligentsia who were to vow an unassailable loyalty to Ramgoolam. Was his objective to supplant Rozemont and any other rivals to the leadership later? An elitist Labour would better serve Ramgoolam?s purpose than would dockers and artisans. Anyway, Ramgoolam?s game plan came to light and his opponents were all up in arms, firing the barrage of vitriolic against him, even hiring a certain NMU from Paris to do the job in a supporting role.

With Seeneevassen and Millien back in the fold, it seemed that the dust had settled. The stormy petrel that was Millien was now toeing the party line when all of a sudden he started fulminating against Ramgoolam. In fact, the day before he sat with Ramgoolam and some members of the party to draft a petition to be sent to London on Constitutional issues. It was like one those midnight coups Mauritian politics is so familiar with. He accused Ramgoolam of gravitating to communal politics in order to promote ?un nationalisme hindou à Maurice? and taxing him of being a bad politician.

The uneasiness of Millien could be explained by the fact that he thought Ramgoolam and Rozemont were trying to get rid of him from the executive committee of the party. Ramgoolam wore his usual calm, maintained a stoic silence but sent his friend Guy Forget on the mission to deal with Millien. Forget emerged on the scene with his gladiatorial skills. A lone dissenter, Millien was not the least expecting to be let down by his close friend Seeneevassen. He felt that was the unkindest cut of all. Millien thanked Seeneevassen: ? Je le (Seeneevassen) remercie de la constance de son estime. Elle me console des coups de griffe et des coups de machoire?? There ended the political career of Millien.

Meanwhile, the Colonial Government was watching with keen interest the scenes unfolding in the Labour Party, in particular the main characters in the dramatis personae. This attitude was in sharp contrast with their avowed intention of wiping out the Labour Party in the late 1936s. Now they wanted the party to live but more than anything to influence with their invisible hands the leadership of the party. British officials had no trust in Rozemont who was considered to be nothing more than a rabble rouser. They held in high esteem Ramgoolam and Seeneevassen, two persons in their view who could lead the Labour Party and on whom they said they could ?rely heavily during difficult times.? Both could contain and discipline over zealous trade unionists and extremists within the party and give responses to firebrand politicians like Bissoondoyal.

The passing away of Rozemont in 1956 and still shocking that of Seeneevassen in 1958 made Ramgoolam the undisputed master of the party and so changed the course of history. Ramgoolam gave stability, a sense of cohesion and charted a new course for a party which survived again after having experienced a bumpy take off.

Anand MOHEEPUTH

?...all is not well in the Labour Party. Dr E. Millien and Mr R. Seeneevassen, despite their close association and cooperation with its executive on all issues are outside the party? It is a thousand pities that in a such difficult situation there are clashes of personalities within the party.?