Mauritius: Angus Road and parliament - Was Phokeer allowed to change the PNQ?

12 November 2020
interview

The Angus Road scandal took on a new twist in the National Assembly on Tuesday with the Leader of the Opposition Arvin Boolell arguing that the Speaker of the National Assembly Sooroojdev Phokeer changed his PNQ, not allowing him to ask whether the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth broke the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act in payments to the Bel-Air Sugar Estate. Was Phokeer allowed to do this? And does it set a new, dangerous precedent in the already troubled relations between Phokeer and the opposition?

The Angus Road saga hit a new twist on Tuesday with the Leader of the Opposition Arvin Boolell's Private Notice Question (PNQ) being changed to chuck out his question about whether or not there was an investigation into whether the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth broke the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act (FIAMLA) that, at the time the payments were being made, limits cash payments to Rs350, 000. Boolell came armed with five receipts allegedly paid by Jugnauth to the Bel Air Sugar Estate for cash payments ranging between Rs500, 000 and Rs1 million (totaling Rs4 million) between February and November 2002 in connection to the Angus Road affair. Boolell refused to ask the version of the PNQ that the Speaker of the National Assembly Sooroojdev Phokeer came up with, abandoning the focus on possible breaches of the FIAMLA entirely.

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