At long last! The manifestos of both alliances have been published and it is a tragedy that the parties still do not understand what a manifesto is supposed to be. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as ?a public declaration of policy by a political party? and we have been presented instead with a public declaration of slogans masquerading as intentions and liberally splashed with buzz words that mean nothing.

Both alliances will ?democratise the economy?, ?fight corruption?, ?tackle poverty? and ?create jobs? whilst simultaneously bribing us with free transport for school children and free exam fees. Our biggest problem: the budget deficit is given short shrift and merits only a vague desire to reduce it to less than 3 %. One does not need to be a mathematical genius to understand the basic concept that when one is massively in debt, an increase in borrowing in order to provide free goodies can only make the debt situation worse.

Our economy is highly unlikely to expand at the rate required to sustain the extravagant expenditure of recent years and the outlook for the sugar and textile industries remains gloomy. So, how on earth can these politicians adopt such a cavalier attitude towards public expenditure and make promises of free everything ? Will they stoop to absolutely anything in order to be elected?

The Alliance sociale is correct in targetting ?gaspillaz? as a means to pay for their promises and advocates rightly the reduction of the cabinet from 25 ministers to 19 and the number of PPS from 10 to 5. But that is the extent of their fight against ?gaspillaz? which will save at best Rs 2 to 3 million, a sum which is easily surpassed by their extraordinary and irresponsible intention to allow all secondary school teachers the right to buy duty-free cars. Instead of killing outright this obscenity which could otherwise go towards creating new employment and reducing the national debt, Ramgoolam wants to make even more people entitled to duty-free cars!

Familiarity breeds contempt and politicians treat our intelligence with contempt by putting forward policies that appeal to personal, selfish motives and we in turn treat them with a disdain that is not sufficiently strong to stop them from ruining this country.

The pitiful measures put forward by both alliances to reduce the national debt are akin to emptying the sea with a sieve. When will we ever have politicians who are honest enough to tell us these home truths:

● Free education, free health service, an efficient social security system are wonderful things. But it is economic madness to have these things when we pay hardly anything in return; we cannot expect a first class service, free of charge, when we scream when asked to pay more in taxes or when efforts are made to remove benefits from rich people.

● No other country in the world gives 13 months? salary for 12 months? work; nowhere else do civil servants get free air travel as an inalienable right of their contract of employment; no other country is stupid enough on economic, moral, and environmental grounds to grant its middle and upper classes a lottery bonanza of billions of rupees in duty exemption for cars.

● How can a Third World country like Mauritius justify paying a substantial number of its senior employees salaries that even rich countries would consider astronomical? I have already written on several occasions about Navin Beekarry earning over Rs 300 000 per month as the head of Icac. But Beekary is not the only one earning salaries that defy all logic and which is deeply insulting to the vast majority of the population surviving on earnings which barely meet their needs.

● Nobody can ever find out how much our politicians cost us and this so called democracy does not allow disclosure of the extravagant yearly expenses claimed from us by each elected politician. Instead of behaving as a true patriot and asking for a drastic reduction in the huge number of missions, Sylvio Michel wants a more equitable distribution of these missions so that presumably he too can enjoy travelling the world in comfort at our expense.

● Some Alliance sociale candidates have rightly condemned Berenger for wasting our millions on official ministerial cars; but their refusal to say anything about how they will deal with this extravagance leads to the inescapable conclusion that all they are interested in is the opportunity to place their own fat arses in the same cars that they are now condemning.

● Berenger said something last week which has gone almost unnoticed but which is hugely significant; he told us that he has only one house, that he has no seaside bungalows, and that nobody can point the finger at him and accuse him of enriching himself at our expense. No other Prime minister or politician has ever made this type of voluntary disclosure and he should be commended for it; he should now make it mandatory for all elected politicians and senior Civil Servants to disclose all their assets here and abroad annually.

I was really hoping that at least one of the two main parties would speak the truth about our financial situation and put forward clear proposals to reduce the budget deficit.

We need leaders who will lead by example and drastically trim the obscene amounts of money that politicians take from us to spend on themselves. Ramgoolam has had five years to realise that we absolutely hate the shameless frittering of our money on politicians? extravagant salaries and expenses, their expensive duty-free limousines, huge number of missions that achieve nothing for the country, and the vast army of advisers that would do well to take our advice and get a proper job. Instead, he has presented us with the same tired, old slogans and has drenched them this time with the putrid miasma of racism. He has conducted a nudge and wink campaign which wears soft, velvet gloves to mask the fingerprints of vile racism hiding behind a false religious fervour. He would have easily won the elections if he could have only understood and acted upon the one thing that unites all Mauritians : our absolute contempt for any politician having a wonderful time at our expense.

The manifestos from both alliances demonstrate clearly that the old Mauritius of populism and the ?scratch my back and I?ll scratch yours? mentality is back with a vengeance. Nasty symptoms are evident everywhere : the growth of extreme politics and its espousal by the political leaders, the twin problems of unemployment and growing inequality, and the endless scapegoating of one group of people by another. The old adage that the only way to make money on the horses is to become a bookmaker is equally true for our politicians: if you want to make money, become a politician, learn some catch phrases, shed all your principles, surround yourself with the vilest people on God?s earth who claim to speak on His behalf, make promises that may ensure your election but which you know will kill the country, get elected, and enjoy a five year visa in Aladdin?s cave to plunder with complete impunity the already meagre resources of the country. I have a simple message to both Alliances : A plague on both your houses and may you rot in hell for the living hell that you are making us endure on earth!

R.A.J.