Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Gaël Rangain
Published on 2024-04-15 08:00:31
XLD leaves the negotiation table, Ramgoolam and Bérenger no longer able to agree on the placements of blue candidates in several constituencies.
The leader of the opposition on the verge of resigning: “It is clear that Bérenger has done everything to make PMSD undesirable in the alliance”
Navin Ramgoolam: “Unfortunately, we did not succeed”
Paul Bérenger: “We tried. It’s life. We are moving forward now for May 1st and the general election”
The PTr/MMM/PMSD alliance announced for the upcoming general elections since yesterday afternoon has come to a Game Over. The PMSD, whose leader, Xavier-Luc Duval, will resign this morning from his position as leader of the opposition, has indeed withdrawn from the negotiation table, leaving the PTr and the MMM to rethink the terms of any electoral agreement. A new leader of the opposition will have to be appointed early this week for the heated session tomorrow. The political scenario within the opposition, avoided about ten days ago, finally materialized at the end of yesterday.
Therefore, after months of discussions that did not allow the PTr, MMM, and PMSD to find common ground for the political agreement for the upcoming legislative elections, the negotiations are now closed. Xavier-Luc Duval chose yesterday afternoon to walk out of this electoral deal, leaving only the PTr and the MMM involved in an agreement to face the MSM of Pravind Jugnauth and Linite Militan in the next legislative elections.
Having arrived last at the meeting scheduled at 4 p.m. yesterday at the home of the Labour leader in Riverwalk, after attending the ceremony organized by the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation for Varusha Pirappu, Xavier-Luc Duval was the first to leave the premises. The message conveyed to his collaborators in the following minutes was “the alliance is off.”
Since last Monday, despite indicating for the public gallery that discussions had progressed between the three leaders with the 35/17/8 formula, signs of unrest were apparent among knowledgeable individuals within the three parties, complicating matters further in terms of choosing candidates based on constituencies. As permutations in urban and rural regions were discussed, the prospects of an agreement diminished.
Indeed, with its eight tickets, the PMSD was to position itself in specific constituencies, notably Grande-Rivière-Nord-Ouest/Port-Louis Ouest (No 1), Port-Louis Nord/Montagne-Longue (No 4), La Caverne/Phoenix (No 15), and Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes (No 18). Initially, Xavier-Luc Duval did not agree with the number of tickets offered to the PMSD and failed in his attempt to have a candidate in Port-Louis Maritime/Port-Louis Est (No 3).
The point of no return for the leader of the Blues would have been reached when he could not agree with the MMM for a nomination in Mahébourg/Plaine-Magnien (No 12), Vacoas-Floréal (No 16), and Stanley/Rose-Hill (No 19). The candidacy of Adrien Duval posed a puzzle for the potential alliance. According to information from informed sources, the MMM did not want to make concessions around No 12, while the PTr wanted to place a candidate in No 19. The MMM had negotiated five of the six tickets at stake between the constituency of its leader, Paul Bérenger, and Beau-Bassin/Petite-Rivière (No 20).
Navin Ramgoolam was increasingly of the opinion that the Reds were taking risks by leaving urban Safe Seats in the hands of their allies, while the fight could be tough in rural constituencies. After a statement to the press on Saturday that discussions had progressed, the official announcement was that the PTr-MMM-PMSD electoral deal was supposed to be finalized yesterday. However, a walk-out by the leader of the PMSD, Xavier-Luc Duval, preferring to leave the negotiations, paved the way for a PTr-MMM alliance.
“We met with the intention of concluding an agreement. With all good intentions, we did not succeed. Unfortunately, we did not succeed. PTr and MMM, we are moving on, we will organize our May 1st. After that, general elections,” Navin Ramgoolam explained yesterday afternoon at the end of the one-on-one discussions with the MMM leader, indicating that the top brass of the two parties would meet this Wednesday. For the leader of the Reds, it was time to make a decision and the continuous “turning around” could not continue.
“We tried. Life is life. We focus on May 1st and the general election, we move forward,” Paul Bérenger expressed. With the departure of the PMSD from the discussions, “we will have to rethink everything,” they indicated regarding the reallocation of nominations for the general elections.
XLD: “Bérenger did everything to make PMSD undesirable”
The leader of the PMSD, Xavier-Luc Duval, after holding an urgent meeting yesterday evening with his close collaborators at the leader of the opposition’s office, expressed shock at the end of the discussions with the PTr and the MMM. “The end of the PTr-MMM-PMSD alliance came as a bit of a shock to me. I did not expect this. It was not something I foresaw. For me, it is clear that Bérenger did everything to make PMSD undesirable in the alliance. His machinations, I do not know what they were. We may become aware of his intentions. He held a very anti-PMSD press conference last week. I found Bérenger somewhat hostile towards the PMSD,” he declared.
“I found it very difficult to work with Bérenger. He is imposing, uncompromising, has his own ideas about everything, and is not happy unless he wins on everything. It is regrettable, but that’s how it is,” continued the leader of the PMSD, indicating that the Blues would hold an executive meeting today.
Xavier-Luc Duval also confirmed his decision to submit his resignation as leader of the opposition this morning, no longer enjoying the political support of the PTr and the MMM within the parliament. “We made all the concessions that needed to be made. We requested 10 tickets, we got 8. We asked for constituency number 3, we did not get it, we accepted,” he said, emphasizing: “It is more a question of the future, and not the distribution of tickets.”
“If we are a political party, we think that we are here to do good for the country. To work in the country’s interest. It is important that under any government, we are not just there for show. Otherwise, it is not worth our presence. The PTr-MMM-PMSD ship crashed on the reef because it had a bad pilot,” Xavier-Luc Duval highlighted.
On the other hand, the president of the PMSD, Véronique Leu-Govind, submitted her resignation from all instances yesterday. In her letter addressed to Xavier-Luc Duval, she cited several reasons motivating her departure, including that “the values of transparency, internal democracy, and respect for decision-making processes, which are essential for the cohesion and sustainability of the party, seem to have been neglected lately.”
She added that as the party president, she found herself repeatedly in a position where decisions were made by a non-executive group, without consultation or communication with her or other executive members beforehand. She also lamented the fact that “negotiations with other political parties, including the MSM, were taking place in secret, without the executive members being informed.” She stated that “the lack of transparency compromises the credibility and integrity of the PMSD.”
Read the original article(French) on Le Mauricien
