<B>By Pauline ETIENNE</B>

We had hoped certain issues would rise above partisan politics. We must have been wrong. Despite several calls by Pils – the association for the prevention, information and fight against HIV/AIDS – for its working sessions with MPs to remain apolitical, members of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) don’t seem to have got the message. They will simply boycott the information session on Hiv/Aids to be held today.

As the Hiv/Aids measurement bill is about to be introduced in Parliament, members of the non-government organisation (NGO) realised they could get their contribution to it to be discussed in the best possible conditions. “We perfectly understand that MPs can’t be specialists in every field and we felt our knowledge in this specific sector could help them by answering all their questions on the issue,” explained the director of Pils, Audrey d’Hotman.

Pils has invited other NGOs to take part in the session. Hence, UNaids – with its representative, Dr Joy Backory – and the Council of Religions will play an active role in the session. Thanks to the participation of all these associations, Pils hopes that all MPs will get the right information and will be able to give it back to their voters. Audrey d’Hotman even appeared delighted about the number of MPs who had given a positive response at the end of last week… She must have been very disappointed after Paul Bérengers’s announcement!

It is true that the attorney general, Rama Valayden, is also part of the organising committee. But he has made it clear: “I have a minor role in that workshop; I am only there as a facilitator.” He even insisted that the workshop should be seen as “something new that goes beyond partisan politics”.

No doubt the MMM leader has his reasons for not attending the workshop. He gave them during his press conference; he blamed the “usual insanity of minister Bappoo” for her targeted policy of subsidies for victims of Aids as well as the “excessive politicisation on every issue done by Rama Valayden”.

Fair enough. Paul Bérenger has convictions and we can only be happy to see that some political men still follow an ideology. But he should in no way use such an important workshop to solve his political problems. As a member of the opposition, we can’t expect him to be in favour of policies implemented by government. This is a guarantee of our living in a democracy. However, this workshop has nothing to do with the issues he mentioned.

As an NGO, Pils is holding a workshop aimed at benefiting the country at large. The president of Pils made it clear that, with the increasing number of people infected with HIV/Aids in Mauritius, the only hope for tomorrow is for “everyone to join forces”. This workshop today could have appeared as a symbol that the whole country was together in the fight against AIDS. Obviously, this will unfortunately not be the case.

The MMM leader said that a year has been wasted since the general elections, as the prime minister did not show any interest in tackling HIV/Aids… unlike him, who chaired a national committee while he was head of government. This might be true but, instead of making sure no more time is being wasted in the fight against AIDS, he is doing the opposite. This is a missed opportunity for him!