There couldn’t have been a better reply to the ex-PM's Christmas and end-of-year message than Manou Bheenick’s assessment of the State of the Economy -the “rampage of dilapidation and depredation that we have suffered from the claws of the kleptocrats who have brought the economy to ruins”- in his MT interview of the 27th December.
To the unperturbed leader of the MSM's statement that ‘I am proud of the work accomplished, which will enable the country to continue to develop and the people to move forward. The new government has a solid base so that the country can continue along the path of development, modernity and prosperity”, the following extracts are a befitting and well-summarized reply:
“SAJ, at least the Mark One version as Prime Minister, was not a rogue and renegade. Jugnauth Jr turned out to be a different kettle of fish. SAJ certainly did not leave our economy, our society, or our polity in the utter shambles his son has saddled this generation with.”
“Sonny boy’s regime — remember, SAJ stepped down mid-term to install him in his place —has left the country deeply in debt. It has devastated parastatals and publicly-owned corporations. The regime weaponized the police, the tax authority, and, to a lesser extent, parts of the judiciary.”
“It bowdlerized regulatory bodies, manipulated the national books, and massaged national income figures to obscure the true reality. It resorted to money-printing with the reckless abandon of an addict craving ever-larger doses, fuelled sustained currency depreciation, and stoked chronic inflation.”
“Sonny boy's regime turned Parliament into a house of ill repute, with a speaker who brought ridicule upon the institution in polite society. It brought Mauritius crashing down from the respected position we had painstakingly earned over the years since independence, in the comity of nations, diplomacy, democracy, and international performance rankings.”
“In summary, then, let there be no doubt that we now have a much weaker economy in 2024 than we have ever had at a time of regime change, whether in 1982 or in 1995. Stripped of the money illusion and false accounting, we are barely better off now than we were, going into Covid. Our capacity to plan and undertake policy reforms is sharply constrained by institutional weakening across the board, especially in the upper echelons of the higher civil service. We must revive and sustain our policy dialogue with all stakeholders to address national issues and facilitate buy-in. “
But Manou has also some good advice for the new Govt , policies that we have espoused in our very posts.
The Main ones:
1. Our fiscal position is dire. We have transformed the tax authority into a paying agent for all sorts of social support. Fiscal consolidation cannot be further postponed.
2. Our population must rediscover the work culture and we must reduce dependence on imported labour. We must revisit our dependence on expatriates and limit real estate sales to foreigners and
3. We must now consolidate our democracy with constitutional change
“So, Navin, Paul, and Team, put your shoulder to the wheel; pull us out of this rut; and get on with the job! But do not expect instant results... structural reforms take time to work through and yield results. We must have the patience to stay the course.”
As for Mr Pravind Jugnauth, you should resign as leader of the MSM; you and your “economic ignoramus as finance minister” were not leading us to modernity and prosperity but to disaster. You have left us with “a heritage, the worst ever left by an outgoing regime in our entire history as an independent nation.”
And, from BLD to ZBP, LePep now demands justice, ZBP, that is, “Zot Bizin Payé " pou zot krim kont la Nation.
