Paul Bérenger’s anger to wards Pravind Jugnauth remains unabated. But he keeps insisting that opposition parties should unite to be strong enough to fight the government. At his rally in Bel-Air – considered a success by the organisers – he reiterated his desire for the reunion of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and the National Union.

The MMM leader had already expressed his wish to see a united opposition in Parliament at his last rally. But, three days later, the MSM leader said in his press conference that he was also in favour of such unity and that he was very happy to see that Paul Bérenger finally acknowledged that he was the one responsible for the “divorce”.

In Bel-Air, Paul Bérenger made it clear that “Pravind Jugnauth said something really stupid but he has to take his responsibilities in front of History. He is the main one responsible for the ‘divorce’ but people generally understand this in the MSM”.

However, he may have realised that a united opposition is the only way of beating the Social Alliance in elections – which he expects to be early. “It is necessary for the opposition to be united if we want to save the country. The MMM, the MSM and Ashock Jugnauth’s new party have to get together,” he claimed.

<B>Regular meetings with Bérenger</B>

If the relations between the MSM and the MMM still seem tense, the atmosphere is far different with Ashock Jugnauth’s National Union. In his press conference last Friday, the NU leader said he regularly met Paul Bérenger to discuss the main issues affecting the country. Even though he did not give any names, he also made it clear that he will make an alliance with one of the parties as soon as the structures of his party are well established.

Likewise, MMM MP, Alan Ganoo, made it clear in an interview to l’express that, even though the MMM feels strong enough to face general elections alone, it would prefer “to make an alliance with Ashock Jugnauth”. He went even further when he stated: “We believe that Ashock Jugnauth has his place in an alliance.”

Hence, the way forward seems clear for at least two of the parties concerned. However, the relations between Pravind Jugnauth and his uncle, Ashock, may make things a bit more difficult. In his press conference, the MSM leader said he would only be in favour of unity if Ashock Jugnauth accepted to give up his own party and come back as a member of the MSM. And this is far from certain yet… It seems they will all have to tone things down a bit in order to be able to reach a consensus for unity.