Analiz Vin Mezir Far Lalians Ptr/MMM

Demokrasi, meritokrasi ek Law & Order

1. En vre reform elektoral avek omwin 1/3 fam kom kandida dan eleksion zeneral. Vre reform la se sirtu sa mari kuyonad azut en doz PR dan nu system FPTP ki meyer sistem elektoral dan lemond pu ras en mari zarm depi dan lame ban elekter ki permet zot avoy ninport ki manb lasanble national dan karo kan dan en eleksion zeneral. Li pu osi permet ninport ki dirizan parti/minis fer mari dominer ek lepep e kone ki ena fort sans li revin dan parlman e mem kom minis pu kontinie kraz lepep.

2. Eleksion Prezidan par en kolez elektoral. Nu pa bizin sa la. Sirtu pu le moman. Nu ti truve ki AGF ti fer an 2018. Mazin u si li ti ena plis puvwar.

Subron Statements That Don't Survive A Fact-Check

1. We have reached the end of a cycle so we need a new constitution (2023 onwards). Bérenger and Ramgoolam have reached an advanced age and are way past the date they should have retired from active politics. Ramgoolam hasn't been looking healthy for quite some time – and he's been an unmitigated disaster as PM when he was – while Bérenger is seeing at least one ghost in Parliament. Subron is now a pensioner. Our constitution has not aged one bit though. It's still a national treasure that will serve us well for the next 100,000 years albeit with a few overdue additions. Subron seems to be confusing the cycles that a typical human goes through with our awesome constitution that was built to last many centuries. It's like the Hindu numerals, they have not gone out of fashion for the past 2,000 years. I don't know of anybody who wants their smartphone to run on Roman numerals.

2. Our FPTP system doesn't allow any new party to emerge (At least since 2010). 

Sis Kolos Travayis Ki Pa Ti Pu Vot Pu Navin

Maurice Curé. Listwar Parti Travayis (Ptr) kumans ar li. En lorea kin al apran medsin langleter, kin develop en bon klientel parmi ban nanti kan lin returne an 1913 me ki pa ti ditu kontan, Selvon ek Teelock rakont nu, kot so pei ti ete. Li ti ena osi ban klian dan vilaz e sa fer li trakase move kalite pu lasante travayer ler li truv zot leta. An 1934 li dan Konsey Guvernmantal kot pu so promie diskur li deman reprezantasion travayer dan sa konsey la e rekonesans muvman sindikal. Sitiasion telman dan dife ki sis mwa pa gayn letan pase e ala li pe fer ban nuvo revandikasion: pansion vieyes e ameliorasion kondision ban travayer lindistri sikriyer. 

Lagazet tret li de kominist e li perdi dan eleksion Zanvie 1936. Me li pa dekuraze u perdi letan. Mwa swivan, 88 banane zordi, le 23 Fevriye 1936 li organiz en miting dan San de Mars ansam ek Moutou, Sahadeo ek ankor pu fond pli gran parti dan listwar Moris. Ban miting e rasanbleman Ptr se ban seans pu edik ban gro laful dimun vit lor ban zafer estra inportan pu zot byinet e pu kre en vag progresis. Curé viktim telman represion ki li fayit e demisione depi Ptr an 1941. En lot kolos lamem pu pran labar.

Analiz Sis Angazman Lalians Ptr/MMM/PMSD

1. Pu redon parlman so let dor. Phokeer se pa Vaghjee me lor sa 35 ekspilsion an 2023 la ena plizir ladan kot lopozision fin rod sikan (e komie ladan inplik en tekewe?). Anu pa bliye usi ki Navin ti ferm parlman pandan 9 mwa pu prodir en dokiman lor reform elektoral kot li ti fer ban rekomandasion konpletman debil. Bon sa pa eton nu ler nu kon nivo Ramgoolam.

2. Abolision FCC. Ranplase par ki zafer? Manier sitiasion pu kontinie deteriore akoz politik fiskal e ekonomik pagla ki Ramgoolam ti kumanse an 2006 e fin kontinie ziska ler si kontinie kumsa mem ban guvernman ki pu vini pu kontinie met tu kalite lalwa libertisid ziska sa eklat dan zot figir evantielman.

Guy Who Left Behind At Least Three Pairs of Oversized Shoes is 90

Kher Jagatsingh who was born nine decades ago today left a massive legacy. We look rather briefly at some of his accomplishments and offer clues as to how he managed to do so much so fast. 

Who Do We Send To Parliament Now?

Houston Mauritius,

We Have a Problem

Because we're in a huge mess and the three major parties/alliances are brain dead. It's good to remember that proper political projects are essentially about baking a cake and sharing it – see chart 1 – while not considering nature as an afterthought but as a priority at every stage when solving pressing problems. The cakes we’ve been baking since 2006 have been the smallest of the last thirty years and their sharing the worst. That's before using the value of our currency to further check their quality. In fact the cake baked by the Lepep government is the same size as the one cooked by Ramgoolam in his third mandate after adjusting for term length but while the distribution is slightly better our rupee has lost 16% against the USD over the past five years. Overall the situation has become a lot worse because the idolatrous economy initiated by Navin has metastised.

PJ Says No to More Women in Parliament

MPs from the PMSD and the Labour Party told the PM in parliament recently that if he presents a separate bill for an increased presence of women in our National Assembly (NA) they will vote for it. This is a very positive development given that we do pretty badly on this yardstick. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the start of 2019 four african countries ranked 12th or better as far as the proportion of female ministers in a cabinet go. Mauritius is 150th out of 178 spots while Rwanda takes position number six. We do slightly worse in terms of the percentage of women in parliament (156th out of 191 while Rwanda is first). But sadly the PM would have none of it replying that he can't see why he should do something these MPs failed to do when they were in power. A pretty lame excuse but no surprise here as female representation is part of the wrapping of a poisonous electoral reform that will make throwing MPs out of parliament a lot more difficult.

PM Presses Ahead With Own Version of Banana Republic

The bill on electoral reform in the National Assembly (NA) is effectively as dangerous and crappy as the one we massively rejected in December 2014. It doesn't solve anything and shrinks our democracy. Given that we don't have recall elections and statute referendums yet it is important that enough MPs abstain and vote against the introduction of proportional representation (PR). It is even better that a few MPs resign from parliament to send another clear signal that we will not allow Lepep to break yet another of its pledges and put MPs at the centre of a conflict of interest. Let's focus on the parts of this bill that are most dangerous and deal with three misconceptions.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (7)

I came to very clearly believe that 
a form of PR would be harmful to Canada.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada,
Feb 1, 2018 on why he's sticking with FPTP

You can have any colour 

as long as it is black.

Henry Ford, about the Model T, 1909

Pravind Al Lapes Rekin 

Ek Enn Lapipi Danzere

It's clear to everyone who doesn't want to get distracted by its wrapping – the jargon, the apparent concern for increased female representation and other gimmicks – that the electoral reform the PM presented on behalf of the Lepep government about ten days ago will turn our country into an autocracy with leaders appointing MPs, suppress dissent which is the lifeblood of democracies and make it a lot more difficult for voters to keep politicians out of our National Assembly (NA).

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (6)

A political rape of democracy
SSR on the Banwell Report, 1966

Enn komeraz sa

SAJ on PR, Rodrigues, 2015 

We know that our excellent First Past The Post (FPTP) system generates results that are sometimes too lopsided. But electoral reform cannot ignore fundamental facts. We've looked at a number of them in the first five parts of this series of articles (these have appeared in the Forum section between April 8, 2014 and December 22, 2016). We'll consider a couple more here, revisit a few and offer some fresh insights on three electoral proposals. But first let us have a look at a useful decomposition of the FPTP system.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (5)

Elections in Mauritius Are Seldom Referendums

Vote share doesn’t matter that much in Mauritius. We instead have competitions in 21 unequal ridings and the party which grabs anything more than half of the contested seats earns the right to form government. Our first-past-the-post (FPTP) setup is a system which works and has served us really well. And that too for decades. Making it an important part of who we are. Just like progressive taxation and a high savings rates have until 2006. Important matters of the state need to be given the appropriate consideration. It’s definitely not a bad idea that we let ourselves be inspired by examples of profound thinking. Like what Feynman told us about hardware reliability of the Space Shuttle: the necessary redundancy was provided by several independent identical computer systems.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (4)

At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.

David Ogilvy headline

We Already Have the Rolls-Royce of Constitutions

Our constitution through its excellent First Past The Post (FPTP) system has enabled voters to proceed with five seamless changes of government since independence. Three of which happened after consecutive elections. And most of our governments have been stable. This has been a key ingredient for our early successes. Our FPTP system has allowed us to focus on solving difficult problems which many back in the 1960s had rightly considered as almost unsurmountable. We also appreciate the quality of our constitution when political alliances break down: new ministers are appointed swiftly. And when we see how the absence of a good enough constitution in other countries hold them back. But it's not perfect. It has a slight clicking sound. Which needs to be corrected soon. In a mindful fashion.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (3)

There are a number of problems with the Constitution Temporary Provisions Bill and its Explanatory Memorandum.

Temporary Provisions Bill 

has at least three problems

I don't think it's right to say that you are presenting a bill that modifies our constitution for one election pending subsuming the best loser system into another system for at least three reasons: (i) there is no guarantee that the same government will be there after the next election; (ii) there is no guarantee that the next government will want or have the required numbers to modify the constitution again or that enough MPs will agree to do so -- which means that candidates may be obliged to declare a community again in subsequent general elections; and (iii) the proposed electoral system that the current government wishes to adopt does not subsume the Best Loser System (BLS) as we know it because this system is simply not subsumable.

Plus Bill flouts meritocracy

If there are additional seats they should be allocated to the most successful unreturned candidates as measured by the percentage of votes received because our ridings are not exactly of the same size. That is if Mrs. Robinson who hasn’t declared a community tops that list then she should get the first additional seat. And not someone who ranks a lot lower in the esteem of voters. After all MP is a job like any other – save the indefinite paid holidays this year – and nobody who has the blessing of the voters should be discriminated against. Besides, ethnicity is not a criterion which will enable an MP to do his or her job better.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (2)

What are we trying to solve with electoral reform? Mostly two things. One is to get rid of the Best Loser System (BLS) – which was the closest thing to stamping us like cattle that one could come up with – and therefore comply with the UNHRC ruling. The other is to try to reduce the unfairness of the First Past The Post (FPTP) system without compromising its stability. Of course both of these objectives can be achieved without introducing the totally undemocratic devices like proportional representation (PR) and double candidacies as proposed in the white paper -- which is nothing more than the toxic 2012 Sithanen report less 4 MPs. Above all we must not lose track of the most important purpose of our Parliament which is to provide good, long and healthy lives for a maximum of citizens by the design and implementation of thoughtful policies. Right? Let us begin with a little bit of history.

Down with PR

As Yashwant Jeewoolall reminded us recently, Labour was dead against PR when it was proposed some sixty years ago. The progressive individuals of the time fought against PR because they knew that party lists would shift the loyalty of MPs from voters to leaders. Indeed if you read Chit Dhukira's Experiments in Democracy you will find out that Philippe Rozemont -- Guy's brother -- was expelled from the Labour Party because he voted in favour of it and that Renganaden Seeneevassen was one of the fiercest opponents of PR. There was even a bye-election in 1956 which revolved around PR and which the Labour Party won. So suggesting PR would be a betrayal of the DNA of the Labour Party.

Thoughts on Electoral Reform (I)

Not sure I understand the logic of giving us only 42 days to send our submissions on electoral reform after taking 389 days -- that's nine times more -- to get the white paper out. It gets funnier when you realise that our Government is proposing nothing new. Nope. The Government is instead and essentially recommending that we adopt the January 2012 Sithanen report: something that is deeply flawed and shrinks dangerously our democracy. And which got a University of Mauritius student an ovation when he rightly said -- after hearing it from the horse's mouth -- that it doesn't solve anything.

The six weeks we have to read and comment on the report is also and evidently way too short when you notice the number of interesting articles -- of the non-TINA variety -- that appeared almost immediately in the Forum and elsewhere. I take a quick look at a few at the end of this piece.