Weekly speaks to Vijay Makhan, former secretary of foreign affairs and member of the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM), for his views on the new prime minister of the UK and what it might mean for us and the Chagos. He also comments on the Mauritius Leaks, the Indian Ocean Island Games and the performance of the athletes and the likely alliances in the run-up to the next general election.

Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street. What are your expectations?
He has plenty on his plate at this time, first in terms of consolidating his team and then the more urgent dossier of Brexit. He has stuck his neck far out on this issue and he simply has to deliver on the promises he has made. His entire campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party rested on the forcefulness of his avowed intentions with regard to Brexit.

What does this mean for us?
I think these are early days for us to venture into any sort of forecast or assessment on what a Boris Johnson government is likely to do or not do regarding our relationship and the Chagos.

Surely what happens regarding Chagos will not depend on him only. What does the team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) look like from your standpoint?
I consider the appointment of Dominic Raab in replacement of Jeremy Hunt – who maintained a vindictive stance on the Chagos issue – as a welcome move. Dominic Raab has an international law background and has published on human rights etc., so hopefully his take on the issue, with due regard to the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and the related United Nations General Assembly Resolution would be more forthcoming.

At any rate, this is not high on the new prime minister’s agenda, is it?
No, in the present circumstances, I suspect, he would give his undivided attention to the issue of Brexit, which he has repeated in front of the whole world would happen by 31 October, come what may! In his own words, “Do or Die”, UK is out by end of October. I have not been able to fathom out the implications of “Die” though!

What could it mean, though, in light of the circumstances?
My guess is he is preparing the UK public opinion to bear the consequences of a no deal Brexit. There have been sufficient warnings from learned and concerned quarters about what such a scenario could entail for the UK economy. The “Die” prospect could also take the form of an early general election, a spectre which he could be using to get the recalcitrant Tory members of parliament to toe the line.

And what is the best ‘Do’ the UK can hope for?
Well, he seems to be echoing the voice from across the Atlantic: to make Britain great again! His rhetoric to take Britain to new heights could strike the right chords and motivate his troops and his electorate to give him the necessary leeway to translate his avowed intentions on free trade, education, safety and security and the National Health Service, among others, concretely. And that is quite an agenda!

Are you shocked by this change of leadership at the head of the Conservative Party?
Not really. Without trying to be wise after the event, the change was foreseeable. Since his resignation from government in 2018, Boris Johnson has led a well-orchestrated campaign to wrest the leadership of the Tory Party and ensure that he takes home the trophy, albeit a rather fragile one, I dare say. There are many voices in the UK, including in the British parliament, that question his accession to the primeministership of the UK. He was voted in as leader of the Conservatives by less than 100,000 party members and became prime minister of the UK – which has a population of 67 million – by virtue of the fact that he seemingly commands the majority in the House.

Wouldn’t this result in a no-confidence vote in his government at some point?
Not in the short term but he will preside over a flimsy and unstable majority. He needs to keep cosying up to the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to maintain that majority.

Is the fact that he is leading a fragile government likely to lead to an early general election?
One cannot dismiss that possibility, the more so as the new PM appears to have antagonised a number of his own party colleagues. Quite a few resigned earlier. Others have been shown the door. He also appears to have irritated the EU by the aggressive tone of his speech while addressing the Brexit issue outside 10 Downing Street upon his appointment.

Many people have evoked the similarity between him and Donald Trump. Is it a similarity in appearance only or is it likely to be in policy too?
Well, Boris Johnson has said he will enter the UK into a new golden age. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Donald Trump was quick to suggest that Johnson is the 'Britain Trump'. Should one be wary of an eventual Do-Bo (Donald-Boris) project on the international scene? Should that happen, it would hardly be applauded by the international community. I would not be surprised if Downing Street were to unleash a strategy to kill the 'Britain Trump' tag that has conveniently been stamped on the back of Boris Johnson.

Mauritius Leaks exposing us as a tiny tax haven has been contested vehemently by the offshore sector and government. People like former Minister of Finance Rama Sithanen, who started the offshore, is more nuanced in his analysis. Where do you stand in relation to this?
Let me be candid. I am no expert in that field and whatever I have to say on the Mauritius Leaks issue is from a layman's perspective. I have always said that unfortunately, we seem to be paying the ransom for our success in that sector, which has become a very important pillar of our economy. I recall the onslaught of a certain section of the Indian press and the press of other competing countries, a few years back on the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty that we had signed with India in the 1980s. Finally, the government succumbed to the pressure and caved in to a review of the treaty and agreed to the demands of the Indian side with the result that we know. We also suffered the pressure that was exerted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Are you suggesting that all this is just about economic interest and jealousy?
I think that we suffer from a deficit of appropriate and relevant communication to showcase our regulatory framework. Mauritius has always tried to live up to its international obligations in this field and plug whatever legal loopholes that may have existed or emerged. But the onslaught goes on unabated. We need to constantly upgrade our communication to ensure that prospective investors in that sector and the governments of the countries they are citizens of are aware of our transparent system. I note that OXFAM has taken position against our global financial sector and continues to harp on that we are a tax haven.

Are they wrong too?
They seem to be obsessed with Mauritius. You may recall that the same organisation had fought our sugar sector tooth and nail, decrying the now defunct sugar protocol, based on skewed premises! Last Thursday's France 24 Journal de l'Afrique carried the story of Mauritius Leaks as its first item with images to boot and gave time to an OXFAM representative to castigate us as a tax haven. There was no intervention from our side to set the record straight. I do hope that we have taken steps to insist that we be given equal airtime to do that. As our sector progresses, we are bound to attract more such accusations. It goes without saying that we also need to ensure that we do not cut any corners but play fair and square within the regulatory framework we have set up and that we leave no quarters for such criticism to be levelled at us.

Alvaro Sobrinho, Glenn Agliotti… Have we hit rock bottom yet?
After the Sobrinho episode, one would have thought that we had seen the last of such adventurers who come over here to exploit the system with their dubious fortunes. But no! What intrigues me is that all these honey-tongued so-called investors find an easy way to the highest echelons of the country. They all become sugar daddies! The image of our Presidency had already taken a heavy beating with the previous incumbent. We now have been exposed to more such unbecoming actions by the present tenant of the State House! When will we learn? Have we become a nation of quick buck seekers, whatever the cost? The next government has plenty to do to restore dignity to the high offices of the land, including state institutions. For that to happen, we need to do away with the nepotism and cronyism that seem to pervade the system. Get rid of the opportunists that change their mantle with each regime and truly set up a system where anybody with the required qualifications gets a fair chance. In short, a rigorous meritocracy-based environment. That would encourage our best brains to come home.

And what it is the next government likely to look like?
At this point in time, I can hardly venture into any prediction. But whichever party forms the government will have a tremendous uphill task to get the country back on track. It will have to take some hard decisions, unpopular ones at that, if the interests of the country are to prime.

Now that the Indian Ocean Island Games are over, leaving aside the performance of our athletes, what are the feelings you are left with?
First, I think all our athletes deserve a grand ovation for their performance and ensuring our bagging the overall championship despite certain odds. At the level of organisation and protocol, we surely could have done better. After all, we should by now have set in place a well-oiled machinery towards organising such mega events. I feel that not enough was imagined and done to whip up a national fervour. Whatever spontaneous fervour we felt during the games will be dissipated fast with the usual local social and political issues claiming our attention, the more so as we move closer to general elections.

Some people are asking for concrete things to be done for our athletes. Are you one of those?
Yes, I too do hope that we give our athletes the recognition and consideration they deserve as they move on in life. I think it is high time we considered setting up a professional multidisciplinary sports academy with qualified trainers to dispense the appropriate techniques to those with proven aptitude. Such an academy should also encompass certain academic disciplines to equip our sportsmen and women for parallel gainful employment.     

After the 10-day truce, back to politics. How involved are you personally?
Was there a truce? Quite involved in my own way. Not on the coal tar, as we say. I have had the opportunity to state in your own publication that I shall not be standing as a candidate, making room for new blood.  But I continue to look after international relations for the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM). Besides, I am an elected member of the Board of the Progressive Alliance. The MMM is a member of that Alliance. On the local level, I also continue to exchange views regularly with Paul Bérenger, leader of the MMM.

And what views have you exchanged about a by-election in Rivière du Rempart? A possibility or a bluff?
I think I am on record to have opined that I do not believe there will be a by-election in No.7. Let's face it, it would be an absolute waste of public funds, not to say ridiculous, to hold such an election five weeks away from the dissolution of the present legislature. But then, it's the prerogative of the prime minister and should he want to take the risk and go down that ridiculous way, that would be his cross to bear. We all recall a similar situation way back in 1987 when a by-election was scheduled in a couple of constituencies in the south. Before the appointed time, the Assembly was dissolved and a general election was called. Are we headed the same way? I should hope so.

What happens from there for the MMM?
I think we have been sufficiently clear about that. Paul Bérenger hasn’t missed a single opportunity to reiterate that position. I have no reason not to believe that the MMM is going it alone. We have no other option. Let's see what the ballot box will spill out as a result once the election is held. We shall take it from there. Besides, we are no longer in 2010 when, you will surely recall, at the n^th moment, the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM) allied itself with the Labour Party and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD) to prevent the MMM from emerging as sure victor of that bout. I see no way the Labour Party repeating the same scenario and allying itself with the MSM this time around. But then I say this conscious of the fact that the term 'impossible' doesn’t exist in politics. As for the PMSD, the self-proclaimed 'zoli mamzel' wouldn’t want to be left being drenched when the political downpour starts. They would seek refuge under whichever umbrella would provide them some comfort.

What colour is the umbrella likely to be, in your opinion?
I consider that their options are limited to being either under an orange umbrella or a red one.

Nita Juddoo, your candidate for the by-election in Quatre Bornes, is now in the MSM? What is your personal reaction to that?
I would rather not comment on that if you don't mind. But as a general comment, I am wary of those who enter the political arena clamouring that they are joining because they want to do politics 'autrement' and be at the service of the people. We know how it all ends up.

The political situation is rather confused these days. Can you help us make some sense out of it?
Though the general election is around the corner, it would be foolhardy to tread along that path. We have been patient so far, so let us all wait for the general election to be declared. The political spaghetti will unravel on its own.

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