We are currently being offered yet another episode of our local politics ‘mauvais cinéma’ since thursday. Rama Sithanen, Minister of Finance and Deputy PM has ‘submitted’ his resignation letter to the acting PM (Navin Ramgoolam being in Cannes for the Sommet France-Afrique before he hops to London for a short break). The main reason for this decision is allegedly Bheenick’s nomination as Governor of the BoM (most popularly known as ‘ministre trou’).
Apparently, the resignation is not valid as it should have been given to the President instead. And Sithanen knows it as he’s also waiting for the PM to come back to get the latter’s feedback on his proposed resignation! Which brings us to the question: does he really intend to resign or is he just brandishing the menace to the PM to gain more bargaining power?
In any case, from the public opinion perspective, this ultimate episode appears as yet another evidence of the lack of dignity of our local politicians: you either resign or you don’t before you make it official. Don’t bring your ‘états d’ame’ on the public stage…
Have you ever heard of another country where a major minister had resigned without really resigning and the nation’s got to wait a full week to know for sure?
Whether Sithanen goes or stays, one thing’s for sure: the credibility of our local politicians is going downwards!
Update (23rd Feb)
According to local radio stations, Sithanen has had two meetings with the PM yesterday and night, each time spending some two hours or more to discuss the resignation. Nothing official is yet out (they’re supposed to give a joint press conference today) but the media are saying that Sithanen is gonna stay even though Ramgoolam will not backpedal on Bheenick’s nomination at the head of the Bank of Mauritius.
In a speech at a banquet after the first meeting, Ramgoolam apparently declared he wants Sithanen to stay to carry on with the reforms and that he had asked his minister not to dwell on minute details/’peccadilles’ (i.e. the nomination of Bheenick). I also heard him say on MBC radio that ‘l’autre personne est aussi une personne qualifiée’ (i.e. Bheenick).
Radio Plus even announced that there might be a reallocation of ministries, with the PM taking over Min of Finance whilst Sithanen keeps the Min of Economic Devt!
Anyway, the way I see it, if Sithanen does stay under those conditions, he’d better wear one of those big coats + large hats + sunglasses at all times cos he would have lost all credibility and would be an object of ridicule.
This is really shameful!
As if they had any credibility 🙂
Most Mauritian politicians (I’ll say 95%) are just a bunch of untalented people who have realised that they can only get their own 15 minutes of fame by being involved in (extremely low level) “politics”…
They basically don’t care about the people and the country. In fact, I think they can’t do much… as they are not intelligent enough.
Pity the really intelligent Mauritians have decided not to be involved in politics.
Some politicians are like cartoon characters, they make people laugh at times :p
“leve paquet: reste” is a very appropriate term in this case! Bravo to the guy who found the term.
Having known Sithanen in the past, he has acted strategically and would not move out of emotion only and with out thorough thinking.
Let us wait for the “denouement a la Mauricienne.”
This ‘saga’ is bound to happen only in the country where ‘lepep admirab’ resides.
Your post says it all nicely about how politicians will most prob’ly be looked down upon even more now.
What’s more unbelievable is the actual appointment of ‘Ministre Trou’ to such a high post. His C.V, i am sure, doesn’t reflect any trustworthiness required for such a task.
The ‘chanzement’ promised once upon a time continues to result in utter amazement, unfortunately – a negative one.
According to the statement made by the honorable PM when he was in Cannes, he stated that the decision to name Bheenick was “one made by the PM” (quote). So what kind of bargaining power is he (Rama) expecting remains to be seen?
What baffles me also is that the PM had three options:
(1) leave Cannes immediately and come back to solve this crisis
(2) stay in Cannes until the end of the France-Africa summit but come back soon afterwards (thus forego his London trip)
(3) carry on with his initial plans, i.e. stay in Cannes, then go to London (heard on MBC radio that he went to Forensics to negotiate DNA testing related issues)
And, he chose the last one….
Isn’t Sithanen’s hypothetical resignation a major crisis? A Deputy PM and Minister of Finance, for god’s sake!!!
Oh well! The fact that Sithanen did not give his resignation to the president as it should be, might suggest to the PM that he is after all not serious in his decision. LIke you said, Sithanen is falling down in credibility.
hmmm,
May be we should phrase it like that:
Sithanen in Mauritius: “Mo Kave aller” ou “Mo Pa kave aller”?
PM in London: ” Wait, not leave” or “Wait not, leave”?
Anyways, from what i’ve just learned in Political Commn… May this is all a ‘masquerade’ to cover-up some other important things happening or likely to happen in the politics of the country….
Lowe credibility= bad reputation management! ‘Dommage’ for somebody who is fighting to bring big reforms to the country…
really like cartoon characters 🙂 well said roushdat
Let’s wait the PM’s return now…apres son voyage prolongé a Londres lol
Avinash Meetoo -woudlnt it be nice if , instead of talking the talk you would actually try to do something : if you are one of the intelligent ones, why dont you do any politics?
Let me remind you that Sithanen has got a double first class hounours from the London School of Economics…..whats your pedigree? It is a pity that he is surrounded by a bunch of tossers.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” [Warren Buffett]
That’s why I do not do politics.
And that’s why I believe that Sithanen is not surrounded by a bunch of tossers – he is one of them now…
Here is (ahem!) my pedigree? What’s yours?