Deepa Bhookhun
19 March 2008
column
Port Louis — There's a vacancy in the cabinet and a reshuffle is long overdue. But the PM seems in no hurry. Hopefuls are holding their breaths as he engages in a strategical thinking process that may or may not lead to stability in his government.
One down. How many more to go ?
While the dismissal of Madan Dulloo as minister of Navin Ramgoolam's government should have fuelled ongoing speculation about the prospect of a cabinet reshuffle (expected for over a year now), surprisingly enough, members of the ruling coalition have never seemed so disinclined to discuss this issue. "It's not up to us", is as far as they would go.
This uncommon shyness and reluctance to give in to speculation might have a lot to do with the Prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam's unusual firmness in dealing with the discordant voice of Madan Dulloo, his former foreign affairs minister; nobody is envious of the latter's experience.
"I think what happened with Dulloo has taken many people by surprise and those who used to think they could get away with almost anything have had another thought coming", says an unofficial source at Government House. Even daring Anil Bachoo is thinking twice now, jokes the source.
Others, not as extreme as Bachoo or Dulloo for that matter, are coming to terms with the fact that publicizing their high hopes might do them more of a disservice.
The cabinet reshuffle announced as early as 2006 (when Maurice Allet joined Alliance sociale in the hope of being appointed minister) has never happened. The announcement, however, (lure might be a better word) has kept many hopefuls on their toes and deprived a few ministers of some precious hours of sleep.
To explain his delay in reshuffling the cabinet (and appointing a couple of new ministers), the Prime minister has said that he wouldn't go ahead with the reshuffle because "the press keeps talking about it." That was the end of the matter as far as public opinion was concerned but it was certainly not the end of the matter as far as ministers and minister wannabes were concerned.
But fears and hopes put aside, there is now a vacancy at the Foreign affairs ministry. Asked about the timing of a reshuffle, the Prime minister dismissively says "all in good time". He adds that he is quite happy to act as minister for Foreign affairs in the meantime and that he would delegate somebody else to attend functions abroad, if need be.
But of course Ramgoolam is not about to disclose his plans, whether to the press or to his ministers for that matter.
What Ramgoolam doesn't say is that Dulloo's dismissal has given him - again - the upper hand over his ministers and MPs with the added bonus that he now has a vacancy to fill.
How he will fill this vacancy and what the reshuffling will actually entail is a matter for speculation and as a labour MP said, "I don't think the PM will be in a hurry to do a reshuffling and whatever I may or may not want has nothing to do with it. The PM will do as he pleases."
It may comfort Alliance sociale MPs to know that Ram-goolam stated yesterday - quite firmly - that he's not in talks with any political party of the opposition; less competition for them.
But it is not so much outside competition that MPs of Alliance sociale fear; within the coalition, there are surprisingly many MPs who would give a lot to be appointed minister. And PM Ramgoolam is well aware of this, having mentioned the matter nearly two weeks ago at an event in Centre de Flacq. Presumably tired of overly ambitious MPs, he had a go at those who get involved in politics "not to serve people but for their own ambitions".
He also spoke disparagingly of those "who when they realize they won't be appointed minister, start a rebellion within the party". But at the same gathering, Prime minister Ramgoolam spoke of the possibility of appointing new ministers. Talking about MPs Rohit Guttee and Suren Dayal, the PM said: "Well, they are not ministers now but who knows what could happen in the future?"
Small hints - or teasers - like this one help to sustain some MPs. One is said to have been campaigning for a while now. Others have dropped hints; some have resorted to blackmail while others still have resorted to backbiting the Prime minister.
This, however, was before Dulloo's dismissal. Since then, many have decided that it might be wiser to stay put and wait. The question is: for how long?
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