The feeling was there. The Social alliance rally and the door to door canvassing of the opposition leaders have just proved it. Potential voters are not interested in the municipal elections due on Sunday. Mauritians are known to be fond of politics but they look completely blasé by the forthcoming polls. Both sides seem to have failed in their attempt at mobilisation.

Hardly four months after last elections, the government has taken the risk of holding these elections. Of course, the reason for this eagerness was officially to let voters make their choice (as the former government had postponed those elections). But it is tempting to believe that the main cause was to test their popularity with the population after their July victory and to take control over municipalities as well.

The Mauritian Movement Militant (MMM) has been managing towns since 1977 and it is now the best opportunity for the Social alliance to win the local government elections. Their hope is that the country is still in a “social mood” – for change. In fact, it seems that Mauritians are no longer in an electoral mood. They only want to see change in their daily lives and they may think that municipalities are no longer capable of bringing such change. Less than one week before the elections, the lack of mobilisation – and sometimes the hostility towards some candidates – prove that they do not believe in local government any more.

Municipalities used to be controlled by people who had the skills to manage the towns. In fact, many politicians who had a brilliant career at national level started in municipalities. But then, in the 1970s and 1980s, municipalities started to lose their influence. Political parties thought people in municipalities should be the ones who were the closest to the population without taking their competence into consideration. Their notoriety in the town was a sufficient criterion to shoot them to the heights of town councils. Only Beau-Bassin-Rose-Hill could still boast about a certain quality at that time but it also started its descent soon afterwards.

<B>After the various presents given by the government and its unwillingness to implement drastic measures, the opposition has no other choice than to go one better.</B>

The main work in towns is done by the National development unit and the private parliamentary secretaries. Towns are not given the financial means to start any initiative. What the towns are lacking and would need – the means to practise leisure activities – is not available because of lack of funds.

Political leaders have all realised that citizens do not pay much interest to this campaign. They are using every possible trick to mobilise people. Even though they do not seem to have a lot of financial means for their campaign – the last general elections has cost enough to the country and the population should not complain to see their politicians quite wise on this particular issue – they are using other means to conquer people’s trust.

The Social alliance has based its campaign on the continuity of change; if people want to see their lives change, they have to give it all the chances. On the other hand, the opposition keeps boasting about its “exceptional list of candidates” while it can’t stop the haemorrhage of its members. More and more are leaving the MMM-MSM alliance to join the opponents.

In fact, both the government and the opposition are anxious about the results of these polls. After the various “presents” given by the government as they came to power – and its “unwillingness” to implement drastic measures – the opposition thinks it has no other choice than to go one better. This is how the former said it would decrease interest rates on National Housing Development Community houses and the latter promised to exempt vulnerable people from property tax and abolish tenant’s tax for Small and medium enterprises.

But town inhabitants are not fooled. If municipalities have not met their expectations so far why should that suddenly change? Moreover, the opposition’s speech may appear contradictory; their fear for textile and sugar, which they use for the campaign, has nothing to do with municipal elections. These are national issues, which have to be dealt with by the central government while the municipalities should take care of the town inhabitants’ welfare. This is where they are wrong and this is what could make them lose the elections.

But voters are not fooled either by the measures taken by the government – and the promised ones. They are aware that Mauritius is facing difficult times and that unpleasant decisions will inevitably have to be taken. Everyone will have to make sacrifices…