Femmes, je vous aime…and it is solely because I respect you immensely that I do not believe that quotas are needed for you to prove to the masses that there should be more women in parliamentarian positions...provided they are competent. As a firm proponent of equal opportunities, I am in favour of choosing the best candidates irrespective of caste, creed, colour and gender and thus firmly against any system of seat allocation on criteria other than merit.
Le vrai débat de fond that would have been of interest to voters, instead of the petitioning for one out of three candidates in constituencies, would center around the betterment of the lives of Mauritian women in society. How, in a non-demagogic way, we would find ways to provide protection to women from falling prey to humiliation of any type that would encompass the inequality of pay, the poor treatment of women in some communities, or sexual predation of any kind. All of these real issues have been forgotten, sacrificed I dare say, on the altar of gender equality for the selfish needs of a few.
Of X Chromosomes and quotas…
Global female representation in politics stands at a low 18%. Shares have been introduced in a number of countries across the world and have taken the forms of voluntary, constitutionally guaranteed ones and reserved seats. The results? Mixed. Legislators in Rwanda saw in quotas a formidable way of ensuring that women, who had been heavily victimised during the genocide, would be given the needed aid to ensure that they would play a greater role in the Rwandan society and help soothe some of the great pain that had been caused to them.
Albeit Rwanda, where there were pressing needs to be dealt with, the imposition of quotas has not been commensurate with the greater emancipation of women in these societies. Has this rationing helped in altering the lives of women in other legislations for the better? I doubt. Did Indira Gandhi’s Prime Ministership create greater equilibrium between genders in India? Certainly not.
A number of reasons could logically be drawn against quotas. Besides flouting the very pillars of equal opportunities, they cast doubts on the mettle of those women chosen. Yes, Mauritian politics remains a male citadel but this bastion can be broken by encouraging more competent women to make their voices heard in the political cauldron. Before I get assailed with accusations that I am leaving the fairer sex in an unwinnable battle, let me reassure you, it is as difficult and even more so for an opinionated male member to be heeded on issues such as political financing or corruption in any of the leading parties in Mauritius.
Trop facile…
Simplistic solutions offered to a most pertinent issue, but truth be told, this has all been part of the Mauritian pre-elections landscape for long. Offering rabble-rousers supremacy above thinkers and allowing those with egotistical motives to impose themselves on other grounds than competence.
The one out of three candidates per constituency campaigners would no doubt enhance their credibility with additional information on why should this be done with details on how it will improve the lives of women in the Mauritius.
Let this show médiatique be replaced by more thought provoking debates.
Absit invidia.
Chetan Ramchurn
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
MMM It's all about belief/L'Express ID/16.03.2010
MMM
It’s all about belief…
Had an epiphany at the end of February. A revelation, as crystalline as the absurdity of life in a Kafka novel, that had to do with an over four decade old purple patient’s longing to finally get out of the political reanimation room to which it had been confined since 2005.
With leaks in the press of a meeting between two of the most followed domestic politicians surfacing, like others, I came to the realisation that the MMM and its leaders were not determined enough to pass the Litmus test of their credibility as a vivier d’idées and as capable decision makers in the next general elections. This latest retournement de veste is yet another one in the party’s long lineage of veering away from the true path of sticking to its core ideals. Even more dangerous is that this MMM stance offers a stark contrast to Navin Ramgoolam’s blasé style…and further widens the divide between the party and its militan and further irks the population.
And thus, the long list of recriminations against Ramgoolam Jr instantly evaporated, forgotten amidst the desire to return to power while the customary leeches saw yet another opportunity that shall allow them to suck on some of that taxpayers’ money. Members of the party that had acted as thought leaders in papers or had vocally expressed their condemnation of this regime’s actions on radio waves have seemingly quieted for their share of the cake. You would have expected the younger members of the MMM to manifest their discontent against this gluttony for power. Que nenni. Settling selfishly for an entry in the good books of the party heads, they have effectively confirmed their dearth of mettle. Having witnessed that damning ambition that cripples minds and mouths and even more so among the youth ranks of my own party, my disenchantment with Mauritian politics further grows…
My MMM days
Every now and then, with my good friends Arnaud and Benoit, we muse on those ideas that would allow our country to breathe again and dream of a land where law and order would no longer be the most aching of issues, where the education system would finally set the bases for a thinking society and when the Alliance Sociale’s mirage, the democratization of the economy would finally materialise. Our selfless conversations often become broad discussions on the ideological meaning of socialism and the importance of never thinking of our own petty interests but more importantly of that of many. It is not an easy task, I admit, to forfeit one’s needs. But it is a path that I have chosen and unconquerable my soul shall remain.
Being reasonably happy with our respective professional situations, we could have joined one of those ineffectual organisations or clubs where members fight more to be known than for the greater good of society with PR campaigns to dowse themselves in, what Warhol termed, their quarter-hour of fame. Foolishly we have decided against this great networking tactic and chosen to try and change things for real. Utopists? Definitely, but the power to dream is that vital elixir that takes a country to new heights.
An absence of values…
I now comprehend that the real issue plaguing the mauve heart is not solely its absence of ideas or competent members, which incidentally is very much real, but more importantly the lack of belief in itself. And it dates to decades ago. In 1982, with victory beckoning we chose to take on board an unneeded ally. And since then, repeatedly in 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, our battles have been solely a question of being in a duo rather than doing it the ethical solo way. Till this deficiency in faith be cured, no return to prominence can be achieved.
The leader of the MMM, unaware of his role as the the Pied Piper of Hamelin leading his party to death, might against his own better judgment and influenced by some , be sacrificing our last drop of credibility supposedly for the greater good of the nation. The Prime Minister must be relishing his present position with the other two parties begging for his acquiescence for a 5 year ballad. The outcome if the MMM fails to get Navin's approval? Would it make any sense to fight against someone you had been courting previously?
When a party runs out of ideas and convictions, it naturally chooses the coward’s way out. Let’s be brave comrades.
Chetan Ramchurn
militan
It’s all about belief…
Had an epiphany at the end of February. A revelation, as crystalline as the absurdity of life in a Kafka novel, that had to do with an over four decade old purple patient’s longing to finally get out of the political reanimation room to which it had been confined since 2005.
With leaks in the press of a meeting between two of the most followed domestic politicians surfacing, like others, I came to the realisation that the MMM and its leaders were not determined enough to pass the Litmus test of their credibility as a vivier d’idées and as capable decision makers in the next general elections. This latest retournement de veste is yet another one in the party’s long lineage of veering away from the true path of sticking to its core ideals. Even more dangerous is that this MMM stance offers a stark contrast to Navin Ramgoolam’s blasé style…and further widens the divide between the party and its militan and further irks the population.
And thus, the long list of recriminations against Ramgoolam Jr instantly evaporated, forgotten amidst the desire to return to power while the customary leeches saw yet another opportunity that shall allow them to suck on some of that taxpayers’ money. Members of the party that had acted as thought leaders in papers or had vocally expressed their condemnation of this regime’s actions on radio waves have seemingly quieted for their share of the cake. You would have expected the younger members of the MMM to manifest their discontent against this gluttony for power. Que nenni. Settling selfishly for an entry in the good books of the party heads, they have effectively confirmed their dearth of mettle. Having witnessed that damning ambition that cripples minds and mouths and even more so among the youth ranks of my own party, my disenchantment with Mauritian politics further grows…
My MMM days
Every now and then, with my good friends Arnaud and Benoit, we muse on those ideas that would allow our country to breathe again and dream of a land where law and order would no longer be the most aching of issues, where the education system would finally set the bases for a thinking society and when the Alliance Sociale’s mirage, the democratization of the economy would finally materialise. Our selfless conversations often become broad discussions on the ideological meaning of socialism and the importance of never thinking of our own petty interests but more importantly of that of many. It is not an easy task, I admit, to forfeit one’s needs. But it is a path that I have chosen and unconquerable my soul shall remain.
Being reasonably happy with our respective professional situations, we could have joined one of those ineffectual organisations or clubs where members fight more to be known than for the greater good of society with PR campaigns to dowse themselves in, what Warhol termed, their quarter-hour of fame. Foolishly we have decided against this great networking tactic and chosen to try and change things for real. Utopists? Definitely, but the power to dream is that vital elixir that takes a country to new heights.
An absence of values…
I now comprehend that the real issue plaguing the mauve heart is not solely its absence of ideas or competent members, which incidentally is very much real, but more importantly the lack of belief in itself. And it dates to decades ago. In 1982, with victory beckoning we chose to take on board an unneeded ally. And since then, repeatedly in 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, our battles have been solely a question of being in a duo rather than doing it the ethical solo way. Till this deficiency in faith be cured, no return to prominence can be achieved.
The leader of the MMM, unaware of his role as the the Pied Piper of Hamelin leading his party to death, might against his own better judgment and influenced by some , be sacrificing our last drop of credibility supposedly for the greater good of the nation. The Prime Minister must be relishing his present position with the other two parties begging for his acquiescence for a 5 year ballad. The outcome if the MMM fails to get Navin's approval? Would it make any sense to fight against someone you had been courting previously?
When a party runs out of ideas and convictions, it naturally chooses the coward’s way out. Let’s be brave comrades.
Chetan Ramchurn
militan
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