NO HEROES, NO VICTIMS 17 April 2014

We were in a very lonely position when, as early
as December 2012, while talk about the 2000
Remake was in full swing, we stated: “I wouldn’t
advise you to put your money on it. I certainly
wouldn’t put a penny down.” If you took us
seriously, you must have taken your winnings
to the bank and quit the game. A wise decision!
The reason we were able to advise you to keep
your cool in the middle of the announced
tsunami is because we have been through this
so many times and heard political leaders say
one thing with an apparent conviction the
sincerity of which you’ll fi nd hard to doubt
only to sit in the same place the very next day,
look you straight in the eye and tell you exactly
the opposite, without even blinking.
So, we went through the tsunami, the ‘cooling
off’ period, the loveless reunion and now
we are back to a second ‘cooling off’ period
and, by the looks of it, thousands of people
are even going to be deprived of the traditional
briani and cheap rum on May Day!
Where are we heading from here? A reunion
of the two long-term lovers whose
hearts had never stopped beating for each
other? By the looks of it. Naturally, a few
disgruntled militants who still believe that
political parties are democratic instances
showed up at yesterday’s MMM politburo
meeting to show their disagreement as they
see Bérenger’s stance as a betrayal of the
MSM, particularly Sir Anerood Jugnauth
who resigned from the comfort of the presidency
to lead the promised tsunami. And
the MSM has indeed been rehearsing the
role of the victim – a card they will play to
the full, thus pulling at the heart strings of
the population.
But let’s be fair: the whole idea of the remake
was based on the assumption that some sort
of tsunami would shake the very foundation
of the government. So, leaving the presidency
was a choice Anerood Jugnauth made
and a promise he was not able to deliver.
Having left the State House to jump back
into the trenches of the political arena out of
his own initiative, SAJ will fi nd playing the
role of the victim at this stage rather undignifi
ed.
In this game of alliances and misalliances,
there are no heroes. And certainly no victims.
Politicians hop in and out of bed with each
other with a shamelessness that would make
bawdy houses look like a pastoral care setting
and those working in them like nuns. So their
unions as well as their divorces leave us cold.
Nobody asked us for our opinion about the
wedding. We have no opinion that they care
to hear now. It was clear from the beginning
that not only was there no love in the relationship
between Jugnauth and Bérenger but
there was not even any reason behind it. One
is entitled to wonder whether Bérenger enjoyed
the game while it lasted and whether
Jugnauth actually believed in it.
As from tomorrow, we will be taken on a
similar ride as before except that the protagonists
will be different. Their conversation
later today, before they meet the journalists
will probably sound a bit like this: “Oh, dear,
it’s so nice to be together again! As for those
(fi ll in obscene word for stupid, gullible
people), who gives a (fi ll in another dirty
word) about them?” “Yes, it has always been
you! What were you saying about that (fourletter-
word) second republic?” Then they
will come out and talk to us about the interests
of the country. As they have always done.
weekly@lasentinelle.mu