l’express Weekly April 13 2012

The ‘roder bout’1 in the margoz’2 republic

It you want to know whether you live in a margoz republic
or not, the test is very simple: just look around you and try
to find out how many roder bout there are and how they go
about achieving their aims. And there really is no shortage of
them these days. They all seem to negotiate from very high moral
grounds but their motto is: “These are my principles. If you don’t
like them,….I’ll change them!” And they do change them with
such ease and even panache that you might forget that they ever
held any principles which were any different yesterday.
In the middle of this ocean of intellectual paucity and moral
bankruptcy, two people stand out for their sheer genius. One of
them is Rashid Meerun who probably takes the cake. The obtuse
reasons he gave for leaving his party to join the MSM immediately
after Sir Anerood Jugnauth’s resignation are a gem. They should
make an entry into our history books. He cleared his throat, looked
the journalists who bothered to ask him for the reasons behind a
decision which will change the fate of none of us straight in the
eye and came up with the following treat: “The structure of the
Labour Party is made of 215 executive members,” he said in a
highbrow analytical tone. “When nominations are made, (presumably
to the heads of parastatals and the diplomatic corps) they
are made outside this structure. So, what is the point of being
a member of the executive?” he philosophically asked. In other
words, you should choose what you believe in and what you do
according to the chances you have of being nominated to an important
position.
Mario Fabien and Antoine Cangy, who have also deserted the
Labour ship, have an even more hilarious reason. And like the
greatest discoveries, it just fell on them suddenly at the most unexpected
time: when they heard Anerood Jugnauth talk at the State
House, they suddenly realised he was telling the truth. Really? And
these are the people who were looking after our interests?
Then, of course, there is our dear friend Harish Boodhoo. Now, if
we said something about this highly susceptible gentleman, he might
take it personally. So, let us just clinically state the facts which everyone
knows while abstaining from any comment: he was the architect
of the Med Point alliance. He threw his weight fully behind its
structuring and spared no effort to make it work. Today, he suddenly
discovers that a remake of the same alliance would be a disaster for the
country. And he does not stop at voicing his opinion. He goes beyond
that to hosting Labour Party members in his own house presumably
to make sure that this same alliance which he blessed yesterday does
not see the light of day today. As we promised, no comment!
If you fi nd the quantity of margoz being served to you too
bitter and you are craving for some yoghurt relish, please be informed
that it is a rare dish in the margoz republic. Our tongues were
beginning to burn.

1. Roder bout: opportunist
2. Margoz: Bitter gourd

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