Pravind Jugnauth is the prime minister of Mauritius. Now that is one sentence most of us wished we would never have to write or read. Blaming it on the Brits (once again!) and their Westminster model, we have been forced to witness a power handover from father to son. Like Anerood Jugnauth said in his address on national television last Saturday, the handover was done in the pure tradition of Westminster.

Fair enough! If this is what the constitution says, nothing we can do about it. We do have some lingering questions though. Whether it is Pravind or Anerood, they have both cited the cases of Tony Blair and David Cameron. Both were prime ministers in the UK and both resigned, in favour of Gordon Brown for Blair and in favour of Theresa May for Cameron. Blair and Cameron also resigned as MPs, triggering by-elections in their constituencies. They feared that staying on could lead to ineluctable backseat driving. On the other hand, Anerood Jugnauth remains in cabinet as minister. That does not seem to be in the pure tradition of Westminster.

The Westminster model also allows for the leader of the majority party in parliament to become prime minister. To be fair, that makes absolute sense. From that point of view, Pravind Jugnauth should become prime minister. He should also have been prime minister in 2014 when he led the majority party in parliament, having won the election. Instead, his father led the government. Even more surprising was the presence of MSM member Showkutally Soodhun ahead of Pravind Jugnauth in the hierarchy even though the latter has led the party for more than a decade now. That does not seem to be in the pure tradition of Westminster.

We have a special thought for Alain Wong. The former member of the PMSD held two portfolios before leaving government when Xavier-Luc Duval led his troops out following the Prosecution Commission bill. After a few weeks, he resigned from the PMSD and now has been appointed minister again by the government. We would like Pravind Jugnauth to come up with a few examples of when a similar scenario occurred in the UK. That does not seem to be in the pure tradition of Westminster.

Here are a couple of other things that have never happened in Westminster. From Robert Walpole, considered to be the first British prime minister, in 1721, to Theresa May in 2017, power has never been handed over from one family member to another. We managed to do in nearly 49 years of independence what the British have failed to do in close to 300 years. Also, the position of minister mentor was created by the Cabinet of Singapore in 2004 to accommodate Lee Kuan Yew. It has never existed in the Westminster model.

This power handover is not based on the Westminster model. It is based on the Mauritian model, which involves dynastic tendencies, constant lies and the inherent passivity of the population. 

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