The image that the founding members and original militants of the MMM still keep of Paul Bérenger, is that of a trade unionist ready to fight for justice and equality. However, many have expressed their disillusion. Although they all recognise that he is a hard worker, they maintain that power has weakened his principles. With his accession to the post of prime minister, on 30th September 2003, Paul Bérenger seems to have lost a bit of his renowned temperament.

“Paul Bérenger has certainly inspired major reforms such as the decentralisation of Rodrigues and the enlargement of our democracy with the opening of private radios. He has also shown awareness of the exclusion problem but he hasn’t made the dream of meritocracy real thus disappointing many people.” These words of Amédée Darga, manager of Straconsult, reflect the feelings of many Mauritians.

Paul Bérenger has succeeded in demolishing so many taboos, especially the major one by becoming prime minister, that he wasn’t expected to be like “all the others”. “His promises created a lot of hope and today’s reality has brought much disappointment,” Amédée Darga adds.

For Vel Pillay, former mayor of Vocoas-Phoenix, “all dreams can’t become reality” and Paul Bérenger may have been forced to tone things down. The prime minister is known for his perfectionism and hard work. These are certainly qualities when they are not taken to an extreme.

This could be exactly where the problem lies: Paul Bérenger likes to be in control and gives the impression that he does not delegate responsibilities. Therefore, he is seen everywhere. He chairs a large number of committees and holds a press conference every week – when he always has a “kind word” for his friends, the editorialists, who don’t understand the meaning of his decisions.

<B>Please everyone by playing the game</B>

Although she considers that Bérenger is not yet a great statesman, Nita Deerpalsingh, actuary and consultant, thinks that the problems of the country cannot be attributed to the prime minister only. “It can’t be denied that we’ve experienced a certain number of failures but it wouldn’t be fair to put it down to one man only,” she says. “We have to keep in mind that this government was elected ‘to set the country right’.”

One thing is certain: Paul Bérenger is a true politician. He knows how to please everyone by playing the game. The problem is that sometimes he has to renege on his decisions. The setting up of the Mauritius Revenue Authority is a good example of Bérenger being “held hostage”. He has sacrificed the very essence of the reform to make sure he does not bring trade unionists’ wrath upon him. And he seems to have succeeded, “He took up with unionists again. He still has unionists’ blood in his veins,” Tulsiraj Benydin, president of the Federation of Civil Service Unions, declares.

The main problem is that he has less than a year to convince the population that he is a good prime minister and keep his promise to make of Mauritius “the best governed country in the world.” International problems have not so far helped him in his difficult task.