Allowing the local press to face Ban Ki-moon, the visiting secre­tary general of the United Nations, was a commendable idea. A rare opportunity for the Mauritian population to hold a high-profile person from a leading international organisation accountable for actions that affect all of our lives, through some tough questions fired off by Mau­ritian journalists. It was a dream scenario – but the dream turned to dust. Right from the start, it was clear that it wasn’t a press conference. It was a ceremony, an exercise in diplomacy that the media was allowed to witness – but not play a key role in.

First, the master of ceremony (since when do press conferences have those?) informed us from a podium that we would be in the presence of an eminent personality. The killer blow came just after Ban Ki-moon and some senior government ministers had walked on the red carpet (since when do press conferences have those?): “The floor will be open to one or two questions due to time con­straints,” the master of ceremony said. A press conference where pertinent questions from journal­ists are treated as an afterthought is unheard of… until you realise the difference between an actual press conference and an exercise in diplomacy dressed up to re­semble one.

What happened when Ban Ki-moon and Anerood Jugnauth sat down facing an audience only partly made up of journalists (there nearly as many government repre­sentatives and diplomats present) was the latter. They both delivered diplomatic messages that did not contain much in terms of substance. The prime minister’s “I outlined our position on several issues includ­ing our condemnation of violent extremism” was a clear example of that (or did Ban Ki-moon previously believe that Mauritius was in favour of violent extremism?) The prime minister was even clearer when he casually said, after Ban Ki-moon had made a few equally diplomatic statements: “I invite the press to put, if they have, a couple of questions,” quickly adding “but we are time-pressed”. It was a press conference. Of course we had an arsenal of questions. But we had understood by then that it was a non-press conference press conference. The conference was successful as an exercise in diplomacy, as a means to build and maintain good relationships with an international organisation. But let us not forget one, fundamental fact. When speaking at press confer­ences, leaders don’t merely address journalists. They address the population, through the media. A population which expects journalists to do their duty by holding leaders accountable for their actions through asking questions that are often uncomfortable. It wasn’t the journalists, but the Mauritian population that was denied an opportunity to get something more than just a trivial “Mauritius is a democratic country” out of the UN’s secretary general this week. When the lines between diplomacy and press conferences (meaning making time for tough questions in the name of transparency and accountability) become blurred, it is the people who ultimately lose out.

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