PMSD leader’s move out of the opposition alliance was a fatal miscalculation. The worst I have seen in our political history. And it is rather sad.

Had he been 30 years old, we would have put this miscalculation on the account of youthful impetuousness. Had he been dim-witted or inexperienced in politics, we would have understood. But Xavier Duval is none of this: he is a former minister of finance, deputy prime minister and a fearlessly effective leader of the opposition.

So when he joined the opposition alliance, he had enough goodwill to sell and the alliance received a very warm welcome from a population waiting for hope to get rid of the autocratic government we have.

Then Duval went to London ostensibly for family reasons. Whatever happened there – meeting agwas or whatnot – I can’t say but ever since he came back, his demeanour when he was sitting side by side with his two alliance partners changed. We saw a Duval going through the motions but with absolutely no enthusiasm let alone conviction. He was stern and grim-faced. Several people were asking if he wasn’t going through some grief or something.

He lit up again and his smile reappeared only when he was photographed with Pravind Jugnauth laying a wreath for the compatriots we lost during flash floods. It was the warm, wide and genuine smile he sported before. The handshake also seemed firm and reassuring, perhaps promising to pull Jugnauth out of the scandals Duval had been uncovering himself and lead him into safety and respectability. From behind, Adrien Duval’s obsequious smile was even more telling...

These expressive smiles were followed by more smiles with various party leaders in the opposition and conspicuously displayed on Facebook. These are people used for marketing purposes and disposed of soon afterwards. They may be part of a bigger game which could have continued for a while to make sure the opposition alliance gets no further down the road until caught by surprise through a snap election.

Then Duval tiptoed out of the alliance trying very hard to look like a martyr and to hit Paul Bérenger and the alliance where it hurts: on communal grounds. Sadly for him, the sympathy he managed to garner was short-lived. The avalanche of resignations from his party – 13 in one day including his own brother, was fatal. Duval suddenly found himself isolated in the national assembly sitting timidly with the only member left – Patrice Armance – squeezed between an opposition disgusted with the one they now refer to as a traitor and a government not sure of what use he is, now that he has lost most of his feathers.

From a positon where he was on the offensive, he now sits alone trying to dodge some of the lethal attacks targeted at him. One was dealt by his own brother differentiating himself from him: “I would like to be able to look at myself in the mirror and look at my constituents and the country as a whole without blushing.” Ouch! The ones who left him on a matter of principle have been quick to set up their own party – Nouveaux Démocrates – and are strengthening their ranks. They have already joined the opposition alliance and reiterated their wish to save the country from the government their former leader is about to join.

Duval, on the other hand, has put himself in the most vulnerable position one can think of: at the total mercy of an MSM renowned for its ruthlessness (ask Hurdoyal), with little or no leverage. The popularity he spent six years building is melting like ice in the heat of the summer sun. And the MSM must be clinically examining its various options and reviewing its offers.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall and listen in on the conversations going on right now between Xavier Duval and his smart son whose hubris led to his nemesis.

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.