Surendra BISSOONDOYAL
13 September 2007
Port Louis — Many politicians today cannot see beyond the tip of their nose, the nose representing election time. They have no vision, only short term "imperatives".
They promise heaven but deliver hell. But the public also is fickle, wanting only goodies all the time, not realizing that goodies can become a poisoned chalice, as we are seeing with the mad urge to tax savings and residential property after promising free transport before the elections.
A few of the politicians however have the vision to see beyond the next election and become statesmen when they obtain power. We have two outstanding examples in our own times and in our own neighbourhood: Nelson Mandela and Lee Kwan Yew. Mandela, who spent twenty years in prison - most of the time in solitary confinement - for his fight against apartheid, showed no bitterness towards those who put him behind bars for such a long period. He had a vision of a peaceful and prosperous South Africa that could only be brought about through reconciliation. Lee Kwan Yew, who became disillusioned with Malaysia, of which Singapore was a part, had a vision of a modern prosperous Singapore based on hard work and merit. Compare them with Idi Amin Dada of Uganda and Mugabe of Zimbabwe who turned potentially rich countries into bankrupt states.
What makes politicians behave as they do? Obviously, in a democracy, they have to obtain power before they can put into practice the ideas and ideals that they think their country needs to adopt for a better future. But that was perhaps in the past when people were ready to make sacrifices without claiming their "boutte" afterwards. Indians in their millions were happy to remain humble and unknown followers of Gandhi and Nehru because they felt it was their sacred duty to make sacrifices to gain their self-respect and for India to achieve its political freedom. Why should the freedom fighters have spent years in jail when they could have enjoyed a life of ease and luxury if they had followed the conventional route already traced out for them? They had principles and they were convinced that their fellow citizens needed their guidance and leadership to end their miseries.
What do we see today? Many politicians spend huge sums of money to win elections and look upon the amount spent as an "investment" which has to be recouped many times over. In the USA, candidates openly seek financial contributions to fight elections. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the two Democratic frontrunners, are both raising astronomical amounts for their Presidential bid. Will not the new President then have a debt to settle when he/she is elected? Will the new government decide in favour of the people or in favour of vested interests which supported them financially?
In Mauritius itself, "colleurs d'affiches" ask for their "boutte" as rewards for their efforts and not-so-detached "sacrifices". People talk about commissions changing hands "sous la table" and projects being rushed through without any feasibility study or without going through the proper procedures.
But apart from this, we also have politicians who, after winning power, had the vision to make Mauritius evolve into a modern state. SSR had the vision of a Welfare State for Mauritius and set up the University at a time when people were laughing at the idea. SAJ transformed Mauritius from a country which was on its knees to a nation proud of its economic achievement.
The ongoing saga about our traffic problems make us see only the Caudan roundabout as the culprit. Former minister Siddick Chady had a great idea about a "dream bridge" across the Port Louis harbour in 1996, but 11 years later we are still going round and round the Caudan roundabout. The MMM/MSM government invested a lot of resources and former minister Steeve Obeegadoo a lot of time and energy to get rid of the CPE nightmare. But our world class "visionary" has taken the children back to the nightmare with just a stroke of the pen.
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