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Open letter to Paul Bérenger: Do or Die for MMM

29 novembre 2019, 09:36

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Dear Paul,

You may qualify me as oiseau de mauvaise augure, but the brutal truth is that I had predicted, practically on all points, what happened to you and your party. And, I had the lèse majesté temerity to inform you – no, to warn you – of what I foresaw would likely be your lot.

But, as always, Paul knew better. Your over-inflated ego {I call it, your inner mechanism of self-destruction} taking over, you persuaded yourself

▪ you were right;

▪ you were the best judge of the  electorate’s minds;

▪ you could, better than anybody else, read the voter’s intention;

▪ you were the know-all;

▪ your strategy was the finest; not the p’tit prétentieux daring to question you with his prédictions de quatre-sous. But, it is best we forget the past. The blame-game is so very negative. If we have to remember our past mistakes, the wise thing to do is learn from them.

So, …what’s the future? The MMM’s future? Your future?

Remettre en question your leadership? Forgive me my laughing out loud. You know as well as I do, you have not prepared – at least, adequately – your succession. Joanna is not ready yet, is insufficiently coached and groomed to take over. You have to give her a little more time. I am sure she will learn quickly and will master all the ropes – give her a year from now, even a few months.

The post of Leader is a frighteningly lonely position. He/she is alone, even when surrounded by hordes of members/activists. The burden of final decision is ultimately his/ hers – and his/hers alone. But, nevertheless, the leader has to very much rely on his/hers close seconds couteaux, on his/her inner circle. You have to give time to Joanna to choose and consolidate her own close supporters/ advisors, to inspire in them the unflinching trust and fidelity so very necessary to any leader worthy of that name.

Meanwhile…

You have to carry on for a little further time.

The question is

▪ Are you going to bequeath her a decimated, weakened, tottering MMM – as it is presently?

▪ Or, are you going to do something to pass-on to her a MMM of the old glory? Alive. Full of vitality. Robust and kicking. Bursting with ideas and activities. Attracting and enrolling membership from wide and far. Growing, growing and growing…

▪ You know, as I know, it could be done. The Party’s ideologies – though, you had, times and again in the past, ignored them, trampled them, travestied them – are still deeply rooted, and can be revived. You have to realize, know and accept that

● times have evolved;

● the country’s needs and demands have changed;

● your persistence in believing minorities-representation is the trumpcard is no longer true – instead of wanting to champion the cause of minority Muslims or Creoles or minority Raviveds or Rajputs, why not think of standing for across-the-board poor and middleclass who compose more than 80% of the population {therefore of voters}, as opposed to the handful–minority of oldrich and new-rich?

though communal and casteist considerations are – alas – still alive, scientific calculations based on such divisions and sub-divisions can be disastrously misleading – our younger generations no longer care or believe in such divisions; the more and more inter-communities/castes marriages have seriously diluted these considerations.

You have to choose – you

either want the perception, you have yourself helped to create, that MMM is a party with its main support-base the Creoles and the Muslims; or

want the MMM to be a National Party.

The very survival of the MMM {including your and Joanna’s political survival} dictates that the Party opens-up to, and seriously encourage the enlisting and active participation of, the Hindus. Not the lazy, incompetent zozos {disgraces of the Hindu Community} presently looking for their boutes in the proximity of the MMM.

You can’t continue to have piètre, outdated and repeatedly rejected vieux-chicots like Gunness, Dulloo and Balamoody and other non-entities like Kissoondoyal, Dayal and Seeruttun, among others, as supposed representatives of the Hindu Community. There are many, many true and hundred-fold more competent individuals – real patriots, not selfish rodeurs-boutes – among the Hindus.

You have to ask yourself: What was it that gave MMM the aura it had in the 70’s-80’s?

If you are honest to yourself, you will answer: Unlike its today’s empty caricature, the MMM of 70’s and 80’s

▪ had ideals;

▪ It had goals and purposes – national ones, for the whole population, not selfish and ambitious ones solely for its leaders;

▪ The chevaux de bataille were themes and subjects that were meant to benefit the worker, the labourer, the fisherman, the common-man, the laissé-pour-compte, not the patron, the exploiter – even if he/ she was a cousin/cousine. Attention-gripping themes and subjects are not lacking, even today.

On national level,

● Reform of Land-Ownership – not necessarily the non-compensated confiscations Zimbabwe or South-Africa models; rather something like India’s rajahs and maharajahs voluntary de-possession against some sort of compensations;

● Real democratization of the economy to allow all and everyone to participate in the economic development and to share its fruits;

● Democratization of energy production – to allow and encourage everyone to become a producer of non-polluting green-energy through converting every roof-top into a mini or medium solar PV unit – thereby reducing our reliance on highly polluting and expensive coal-burning, and, incidentally, reducing the amount on the individual’s CEB monthly Bill;

● Encourage agricultural diversification from the now and in future non-profitable sugarcane cultivation to more revenue generating vegetable and fruit plantations;

● Emphasize the do-or-die importance of food production and food-self-sufficiency – research, selected and enhanced production yielding seeds, more maladiesresistant varieties, modern methods, etc., have to be undertaken. Already about 30% of the world-population are suffering under- nourishment and are dying of hunger; in 50 years from now, if nothing is done, more than half of mankind will be dying of famine. We may become a high-earning nation; we may have the money to buy, but, we may find ourselves without any supplier, any nation {they have to feed their own people before thinking of exporting their food-products} willing to sell us any food…

On a global level,

● The food problem mentioned above;

● Climatic change;

● Pollution;

● The effects of réchauffement de la planète on the polar regions;

● Aging of the world-population;

● Communism and ultra-liberalism having failed, a new global economic system has to be established.

You can think of a good score of other urgent issues facing our Country and our world.

The immediate, more crucial question is:

▪ Is Paul up to it, ready to take up the challenge?

▪ Or, has he become too old, too rouillé, a drooling idiot, reduced to mewling and puking in his second infancy?

▪ A hopeless loser?

Wishing you, all the same, the best.

Your well-wisher {even, if you fail to recognize it}.