The damage done to the opposition alliance is difficult to assess but the one done to Xavier Duval is arguably irreparable. Whether he decides to go with the MSM or stay within the opposition alliance; whether he has swallowed his pride, dignity and credibility and succumbed to the siren’s song and juicy gifts or is simply trying to bargain his way to more investitures. Whether Pravind Jugnauth genuinely intends to ditch and replace his vice-prime minister after putting him to full use every time there was a nasty motion against the latter’s former friends or simply means to cynically destabilise the opposition.

All that is irrelevant. What is relevant is people’s perception of an opposition which promised to put its differences and interests aside and work towards ridding us of the autocratic, irresponsible government we have. In the interest of the country. Well, where exactly are the interests of the country when the main consideration of the PMSD seems to be who is offering more tickets rather than who is going to do well for the country?

It is not difficult to understand where Xavier Duval is coming from, though: when he left the MSM government because of its so many abuses, culminating in the Prosecution Commission Bill that threatened to destroy the checks and balances in our legal system and give many of the powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions to a political nominee chosen by the prime minister, Duval’s popularity shot up. He gained much more credibility, respectability and aura and became a hero overnight! His newly-acquired statesmanship went crescendo when he took on the leadership of the opposition and revealed the image of an assiduous, bright, methodological and serious opposition leader and MP. I have seen few people rise to such heights in such a short time.

Sadly, popularity and good performance do not necessarily translate into votes, not even in the urban constituencies. We saw in the Quatre Bornes by-election how the PMSD’s candidate trailed far behind the winner, Arvin Boolell, and MMM’s Nita Juddoo, Roshi Bhadain and even Jack Bizlall and just managed to avoid the terrible shame of being overtaken by then Mouvement Patriotique’s Tania Diolle, who sank like a heavy stone, with 1,516 votes! In Quatre Bornes! Let’s not even begin to talk about constituencies 4 to 14!

And regrettably, those qualities we so admire in Xavier Duval are being threatened by the sad spectacle we are being subjected to: without taking into account the performance of an incoherent kid who is throwing tantrums because he wants more toys, the pathetic show of force on Facebook with photos showcasing put-on smiles with different politicians and aspiring politicians would have been hilarious had it not been so tragic. And the suggestion that Xavier Duval may be considering joining forces with a party associated with all the ills he has been diligently denouncing for the last six years – Angus Road, Soopramanien Kistnen’s murder, Franklin and the stag party, drugs, blatant nepotism and other forms of corruption, Pack&Blister, Molnupiravir, Wakashio, state capture etc. – is causing the PMSD more harm than to any other party in Mauritius today. Even if it is just a way of bargaining! If that’s how adult statesmen resolve their differences, please allow me to weep my heart out.

On the other side of the barrier, since the great success of the Katori episode, we have been in a permanent electoral campaign packed full of dog whistles to the MSM supporters in designated constituencies. The rumour that should something happen to Navin Ramgoolam, his successor would be Paul Bérenger is still making the rounds. As the elections draw even closer, this will move beyond the dog whistle into other forms of barely disguised communalism. The dark comedy currently going on at the level of the opposition is providing more fodder for the MSM to use to stoke those flames.

If I were the prime minister, I would call the elections now.

A third edition of Touria Prayag’s book “Provisional Charges: The Untold Human Stories” and her second book: “#BLD: When Mauritius Lost its Bedside Manners” are now available at Librairie Le Cygne, Le Printemps, Hobby World and all the Bookcourt outlets.