Blog: Our Country Our Concern

Amidst the ugly bickering, the exchange of hollow unbecoming words among politicians, it was such a healthy beautiful sight on the occasion of Eid celebrations to see three persons who had occupied the post of Prime Minister on stage, sharing the same platform.

Today, Sir Anerood Jugnauth is President of the Republic, Paul Berenger the Leader of the Opposition and the present Prime Minister is Navin Ramgoolam. Navin Ramgoolam on his arrival was greeted by the usual Eid embrace and hugs by members of the organising committee. He shook hands with those on stage including Paul Berenger.

Perhaps this could happen only in Mauritius. Christian and Hindu leaders attending celebrations of a festival of a minority Muslim community, a festival declared a national holiday. The Prime Minister seized the opportunity to announce the reduction in the airfare from Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 35,000 to Hadj pilgrims.

He said that during a recent stop-over in Dubai, he had requested the senior vice president of Emirates Airlines for a reduction of airfare and an increase in seat capacity for Hadj pilgrims.

This year the seating capacity will be increased from 350 to 1000 on Emirates. Does it not feel good for a Hindu Prime Minister to negotiate such favorable terms for Hadj pilgrims? Such a beautiful side of our national character and culture!

The President of the Republic, the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister, all three gave messages of peace, unity and patriotism from the same Eid platform.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth said that Mauritians should appreciate their luck in living in such a beautiful, peaceful country. Paul Berenger while congratulating the government for its contribution to the drought victims of Somalia, called upon one and all to assume their patriotic responsibility to address the consequences of the economic and financial crisis taking place in America and Europe. The Prime Minister asked for stability in the country to ensure its continued development.

Thus, how to explain mini crisis created by Paul Berenger by his refusal to go to the police to give his statement on a charge of disseminating false news on the eve of Eid? He told his followers that he will refuse bail and go on hunger strike if he is arrested. The police in a communiqué denied that it intended to arrest him. It was perfectly legal to refuse to give the full statement of the Prime Minister to his lawyers. Prime Minister had reported him for disseminating false news.

This behavior and attitude is in contradiction with his speech on the occasion of Eid celebration. Every citizen is and should be treated equally before the law.

Only recently a cabinet minister much higher in the hierarchy of protocol was arrested and released on bail, causing all other ministers of her party to resign in solidarity.

It is not unusual for VVIPs to be arrested and released on bail if allegedly accused of arrestable offence. They have to go through the due process of law.

It is a dangerous and irresponsible act on the part of the leader of the opposition to provoke his followers by not going to the police to give his statement and threatening to go on hunger strike. In spite of his appeal to keep peace, such action can disturb peace and stability in the country.

Hunger strike is a very powerful weapon used to defend a just and right cause; it was successfully used by Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle against colonial rule and violence. Recently Anna Hazare used it to force the Indian government to pass an anti-corruption bill.

His action caught the imagination of the Indian masses and government had to give way. In Mauritius, Rehana Ameer had threatened to go on hunger strike till death to protest against her  dismissal by MBC. On the suggestion of the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister had appointed a Fact Finding Committee presided by a magistrate to look into her case.

What had the Leader of the Opposition intended to achieve by adopting such a course of action? Cheap political gains? Doubtful. Mauritians are law abiding citizens and they expect their leaders to do the same. They expect them to respect the independence of the institutions.

By refusing to interfere with ICAC on the Medpoint issue and risking the majority of the government in parliament with the resignation of MSM ministers and MPs and their crossing over to the opposition, the Prime Minister had received unanimous approval and support of the people.

I also fail to understand the logic of Paul Berenger for cancelling his appointment with the PM. He was supposed to have a second round of talks on what the MMM considers to be the most urgent issue of the day – electoral reforms and power sharing in a second republic.

Just because police had called him to give a statement? Police was just doing its duty or was it a pressure tactic to force the PM to withdraw the case? Or the police to bow to his timings?

Nobody should put the peace and stability at risk by any action. The public takes goods note of such behavior and gives its judgment on election day.

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival and a public holiday to celebrate the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha. The same political leaders, as per tradition, will share the same platform and I am sure as usual, will give similar messages of peace, stability, patriotism and communal harmony.

Lord Ganesha is believed to remove all obstacles and fulfill the dreams of his devotees. He is the god of wisdom. All Hindus invoke him before initiating any action in their life.

Let me pray Lord Ganesha to give our politicians the wisdom to think, say and do what they preach from such a religious platform. They will surely deserve his blessings for a fruitful, happy, successful life.

On account on the recent political turmoil and festivals a significant decision of government has more or less gone unnoticed. The conversion of DBM into an SME Bank to be regulated by the Bank of Mauritius.

Former Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth had decided to scrap the bank and just make it a financing agency for SMEs. Now with the services of a fully fledged specialised bank for the SMEs, supported by the experience of the staff, the new DBM will give the much needed push to the SME sector. Thus, implementing the government policy of democratising the economy.

I cannot over emphasise the importance of financing in the success of a business. The success depends greatly in the quality of financial planning and advice. Capital is required to purchase equipment, to pay overheads, salaries and rent and used as working capital. It is required to take advantage of opportunities or survive temporary setbacks.

There is no shortage of financing schemes for SME projects available besides DBM from leasing companies, commercial banks and the transitional support scheme for SMEs.

They is also no lack of training facilities from institutions like MEF, MITD, SMEDA, UTM and Institut de la Francophonie. From simple workshops and seminar to master degree in entrepreneurship are available all throughout the year.

Then what is the missing link to make of Mauritius a country of entrepreneurs? To address the challenges of the world financial crisis, we are lucky to have in place strong institutions.

We need only the leadership to put life in these institutions and make them work. Future job creation and wealth will depend on the SME sector. The future of our country is the concern of not only politicians but all of us.