Christina Meetoo

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 you must have seen on Avi’s blog, we went to David Guetta’s concert on Saturday. It had been ages since we last went to a concert… And we did feel like old thirty somethings amongst the teenagers and twenty-somethings in the beginning 😉

But, it was a cool party that really rocked. After a tricky climb up the slopes of the fort (I pity the girls who wore high heels and been to the hairdresser, with complete make-up and oh-so dressed up!), we had to get through compact crowds to pass the numerous check-points and security check (not for the girls though!) and finally get a silly stamp on the arm (whose disappearance for Avi led to a silly little incident with an overzealous security guy…)

Inside, the setting was nice with a special wooden dance floor (sometimes I feared it would collapse under the stomping!), some sail-like decorations, two large screens and special lights. The local DJ who did the first part, David Jay, was OK but Guetta was of course miles ahead. Since, I’m not very tall, I couldn’t see much of what he was doing but Avi says it was marvellous to look at his hands fumbling on the control boards (is that what they call it?).

Anywayz, we danced like we were young again… And came back home at around 3.15 in the morning to free Dada and Dadi who had been entrusted with Anya and Kyan. In fact, that was our first night out without the kids since their birth!

No need to tell you how tired we felt the next day, specially having to look after the kids who did not feel at all like having a nap (which we badly needed). Our eardrums were also KO for almost 24 hours; I could hear a buzz in my left ear till the day after! My big toes also ached a bit coz a guy and a girl jumped on them! Plus all the joints as well. Could it be that I’m getting old????

Phew!!! Found some time at last to post my greetings here. I hope all of you enjoyed the XMas & New Year celebrations.

For us, it’s been quite busy… We organised a nice little BBQ party yesternight to celebrate the new year. Went to sleep at 3 am today after having put some order in the kitchen! The kids enjoyed themselves a lot (they made a good harvest of gifts and ran a lot around the house) but they were also very terrified by the fireworks (though I think there were much less than the past years – probably because people felt they need not waste too much money in such a way).

Today, there was the traditional round of visits to Avi’s relatives (7 houses in a row) with the string of drinks and gajacks. An important tradition that helps the people in the family to keep in touch…

Allez, all my best wishes to everyone. I hope the year 2007 is not as bad as everyone secretly feels it might be 😉 May all the prices go down, may we be able to boast of an intelligent education system, may our politicians become more interested in everyone’s welfare, may we stop thinking in sectarian terms, may people suffer less… In short, may Utopia become true!!!