On the Forthcoming General Elections
He
ignored dates such as 01 and 02 November which are public holidays,
as well as the 03 November that falls on a Sunday, but instead, he
chooses another day [in the middle of the week]. A panic and great
fear took hold of him, lest he loses in the upcoming election, thus
losing this power, especially with so many scandals in his
government. So, on 06 October he announced the elections for the 7th
day of November. He only gave a delay of one month to hold the
general elections. He does not give the other political parties time
to prepare themselves properly. It is true that after five years
(2014-2019) the National Assembly must be dissolved by the end of
December 2019. I do not want to go into details on this subject, but
what is deplorable is that the date chosen for the elections falls on
a Thursday where there are exams that will take place on that day for
the School Certificate (SC) and Higher School Certificate (HSC)
students. So, on 06 October, the day of the announcement, the
Election Commission officials had to find alternative places so as
not to disturb the conduct of these examinations.
So,
out of 9,41,719 voters, 104,903 voters will have to vote on 07
November in a different place from where they are used to. These are
tactics that he [the current Prime Minister] is using so that young
students of the SC and HSC do not have time to think about which
political party they are going to vote for because they have to focus
on their final exams which are very important.
Students
who have exams scheduled will be very worried on election day where
there will be a lot of traffic jams and so they may be late in their
exam rooms. The vagueness persists a lot on this case. Young students
of voting age show their disagreement and anger and say that the
government has not thought about all this and then everyone will not
have the chance to vote and that’s a shame.
In
addition, traffic jams will certainly affect the candidates
[students]. All of this will have a negative effect on their
schedule. Other candidates say that it is a bad choice to hold the
elections the same day as the exams, because the votes of the young
people are very important.
For
me (the Khalifatullah) the right to vote is to have the future of
Mauritius in hand so that it does not fall into wrong hands. So all
voters must make good choices, without the slightest trace of
communalism. They have to go to the polls, they have to fulfill their
civic right to elect people who are honest, and who are not corrupt
and who are respectable, so as to have a better future, a better
Mauritius, a clean Mauritius for our future generations.
I
have met young people who have expressed their opinions and they are
frustrated and angry that a prime minister has made such a bad
decision that is against the rights and interests of young people.
They categorically said that it is not a good decision at all to set
the date of the general election at the same time as their exams, and
they told me they and their friends are old enough to vote, but with
the pressure of the exams, and now also with the pressure of these
upcoming elections, they are disturbed by all that, and they may not
go to vote because for them, they must give priority to their exams.
So all this affects them morally.
It
is a terrible mess and especially the next day [of the election],
Friday 08 November 2019 is Jumu’ah
(the Friday prayer) where many Muslims who will go to work for the
Counting of votes, will not be able to make it for the Jumu’ah
and for us Muslims the Jumu’ah
is extremely important, and it is part of our faith and it is a duty
we must fulfill for Allah where we have been instructed to leave
everything - all our work - to go and attend the Jumu’ah
and then to go about to seek the favours of Allah.
A
minister who does not think for the well-being of his people [and he
says that he is in a Mauritian Alliance], who thinks only for
himself, for his own gain, then all that which he is doing is very
reprehensible and dangerous, especially for the future of our
children tomorrow. He announces the elections in quickly so that no
one has time to take stock of his government and go quickly vote
without thinking, and then he believes that he will again come back
to power, this time by being elected by the people. He uses us like
puppets, using dirty methods that are not worthy of a modern
Mauritius!
Here
in Mauritius, [some] politicians unfortunately attack their political
opponents in lamentable, disgusting ways, which is not worthy of a
modern and ethical Mauritius. They use all kinds of strategies, some
more disgusting than others in order to denigrate their opponents and
that’s a shame, because politics is very behind the evolution of
the Mauritian nation. Mauritians, for the most part, want the
politicians, in whom they place their trust, to keep their words and
do what they promised to do, but only while remaining in the right
path, and not having fun with the people’s money. They want leaders
who know how to administer this country while preserving their
dignity and moral principles. They want to see a revival of morality
in the political circle, and not of communalism where everyone seeks
to protect his fellow men [especially on the ethnic/ religious
level].
We
want a leader and such representatives who will really work for the
interest of this country, those who think in terms of Mauricianism
and not in terms of communalism. Such representatives of Mauritius
who will make decisions for the interest of Mauritius and who will
manage the national fund in all honesty.
Today
Mauritians want more respect in the public debate and they want a
more civilized politics which is consistent with our century and the
evolution of our youth. Unfortunately, nowadays politicians are using
dirty methods that are not worthy of a modern Mauritius island,
especially in 2019. And we are seeing how many low blows are being
used for these elections. But it’s up to Mauritians to be mature.
[I am not giving an instruction to vote for a particular political
party. Everyone must use his intelligence and know how to vote
properly].
The
National Radio and Television (MBC) has become the propaganda
apparatus for this [present] government and for Mr. Pravind Jagnauth,
and it is we, the people who have to pay the monthly fee of this
national television [to watch its channels]; such a television which
is in the interest of only one section of the population, and not the
mass - where it is not at all impartial [it does not treat everyone
equally]. Remember that every Mauritian has his rights in this
country, and every religion, and even the different groups in the
same religion (for example, Islam) where there are several groups; so
that does not mean that one group all the time has the right to go on
TV [to hold religious programs] and not the others! [This is unfair].
Every
Mauritian must fulfill his civil right. It is a privilege you have to
choose a government which is respectable [with a high head] and not
corrupted [with clean hands]. And Insha-Allah,
we pray and we take the necessary actions at the same time so that
tomorrow we have a national television that does not differentiate
among anyone. But unfortunately, this is far from reality and it is
the Mauritians who pay the price. They are forced to pay for a
national television they do not want to watch, and then they make a
double expense by paying another antenna to watch other TV channels.
The
people are suffering and the present government has had its fun
during its term from December 2014 to October 2019. I put before you
a list of goods acquired by the outgoing MPs:
- Land bought by 10 elected officials: Rs. 65 million.
- Acquisitions made by the spouses of 6 elected officials: Rs. 56 million.
- Loans contracted by 20 elected officials: Rs. 168 million.
- Vehicles leased by 8 elected officials: Rs. 13 million.
A
lot of money has been sown for these general elections. There are
some who enjoy themselves a lot, and those are people who are very
close to these politicians. There are posters, banners, the sale of
Briani,
car rentals, vans and buses and also there are political parties that
give people gas vouchers for their cars so that they take people and
come to their gatherings.
They
do all this in order to have more crowds [it’s a war of the
crowds]; 40,000 to 60,000 posters for the national rally and 20,000
square feet of pennants and several large cookware (Deg)
of Briani
for national gatherings. In addition to congresses or meetings, there
are expenses for tents, and chairs. They rent hundreds of buses for a
national meeting. When you calculate all that, you see that it must
have cost Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 for a bus only, if the place is not
far, and Rs. 4,000 if it is for a place further away. And moreover,
they attract the crowd by calling them and giving them these buses
after the gatherings to have fun on the beach, also supplying them
with alcoholic beverages. During these tours, the buses are damaged,
and so money is wasted!
When
you think about all this, for only five years they were in power, see
how all these millions have evaporated! It is not money that they
withdrew from their own pockets. Private firms help them a lot in
this, and these politicians know that all this help is “on
condition” and
when they come to power, they have to walk according to their plans,
and because of this, finally Mauritians no longer own Mauritius but
it is the others who come to take their share of the cake.
I
have to stop here for today. We must pray so much that Allah (swt) -
The Almighty - sends to the head of the country people who will be
honest, with heads up and clean hands [respectable and uncorrupted]
and who will fight against corruption, and waste, and who will work
for social justice, and who will have in mind to lower the cost of
food and drink, and restore the equilibrium of the economy.
Insha-Allah,
with duahs
and the help of Allah, the impossible [or far-fetched] can become
possible [realisable]. Ameen.
[---Special Remarks made by Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius on the Friday Sermon of 18 October 2019 ~19 Safar 1440 AH.]