After the two-month electoral campaign, we might have expected some rest. And we have to admit that the two main opponents have remained quite silent so far. The prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam and the opposition leader, Paul Bérenger, have seemed up to now to be carefully watching the other’s behaviour before launching the “heavy artillery”. However, the storm came from somewhere else – or more precisely from someone else. The conflict is now between the PM and the president of the Republic.

Although such a conflict could have been expected in view of the latter’s long career as the MSM leader and his relationship with the present leader, we may all have underestimated its real proportions. The fact is that the PM openly says that he doesn’t trust the President while the latter doesn’t seem ready to make any compromise or to show that he can be trusted. Both have allowed the situation to deteriorate.

Some personalities on one side or the other have tried to put things right but it seems they have all come up against a brick wall. Even when one of the parties has tried to make an effort not to worsen the situation, the other has seized the opportunity to snub him. And vice-versa. The latest episode with the appointments to the Public Service Commission and Disciplined Forces Commission was enough to revive the fire and show that no one has any intention of making things easier.

The problem in all this personal feud is that the country is facing difficulties. Instead of sticking together to try and find ways of emerging from the crisis, the two major captains at the helm of the country are wasting their time – and ours – in futile battles. Because their conflict is no more than a futile battle compared to the survival of the Mauritian economy.

It is not in a tense political atmosphere that the government will manage to save the textile sector, lobby with the European Union for a reduction of the drop in sugar prices or boost the tourism sector – identified by both government and the private sector as the big saviour. This tough task needs all the energies of the country.

To ensure this, the right decisions should be taken. Either the president should go, which he’ll probably refuse to do. After all, he has been appointed for five years. Although he may have made some mistakes – the fact that Lady Sarojini openly campaigned for the MSM being one of them – he has never violated the Constitution. In this perspective, his departure from the State House is not really justified. As the PM said, only his “good sense” could drive him to leave.

The second eventuality – SAJ remaining at Reduit – demands that both he and the PM agree to play the game. It is only on this condition that the President will be able to remain in his post. No more below-the-belt attacks, no more futile conflict. Both the PM and the President should then settle down and go back to work.

If none of these possibilities are feasible, then the government may have a weapon of the last resort . The government, which may rally the support of up to 46 MPs in Parliament for the moment, could look for the 47th one. If it succeeds in convincing one member of the opposition, the government would have a majority of two-thirds in the Assembly and could then change the Constitution. In this case, the PM could well make SAJ’s dismissal a reality.

In any case, Mauritius cannot afford to get bogged down in such a conflict, which is only making us waste time and energy and is diverting attention from the real priorities of the country.