What the opposition so far failed to do on its own, the speaker of the National Assembly, Sooroojdev Phokeer, seems to be achieving. On Monday, the whole opposition – which until now seemed to be just a squabbling bunch, hosted a press conference together, staged a walkout together and decided to boycott the last parliamentary session together. 

Within the National Assembly, there is little that the opposition can do that goes beyond mere symbolism. To get rid of a speaker, a two-thirds majority in parliament is needed, which the collective opposition simply does not have. This means that unless the government itself decides that a speaker has become a liability, there is little that can be done. In 1990, for example, Ajay Daby was rejected as speaker only when the then-government suspected that he was against the republic bill. On the other hand, his successor, Iswardeo Seetaram, despite being criticised by the Supreme Court in the attempt in 1993 to declare Navin Ramgoolam’s seat vacant, did not go anywhere because the government side backed him. Ditto in 2017, when there was a motion against Maya Hanoomanjee. The conclusion of all this is that unless the government itself decides that Phokeer has become a liability, he is not going anywhere as the speaker. 

And there is a case to be made that for the current government, Phokeer is indeed proving to be a liability. Aside from the fact that seeing the speaker screaming at the opposition on televisions across the country each week is unlikely to impress anybody and is more likely to encourage ridicule, there is a political problem as well. The irony is that Phokeer’s nomination as speaker was one of the first cracks appearing within the opposition. However, today, after seeing him in action, he is one of the strongest reasons for the opposition to come together in parliament. 

This is not something that the government is blind to. In 2018, the government appointed Bobby Hurreeram as deputy speaker and, while chairing one session in August, he expelled Paul Bérenger, leading to a walkout by the Labour Party and the MMM. The prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, shouted about the “return of the Ramgoolam-Bérenger alliance”, but at the same time swiftly replaced Hurreeram with Joe Lesjongard. The government knew that when you bite too hard, everybody bands together against you.  And having both parties routinely humiliated on national television each week would only drive them closer, endangering the MSM. True enough, both parties subsequently spectacularly miscalculated by deciding to go on their own and lost. This time, it’s not two, but three opposition parties that seem to be on the same wavelength and the biggest glue that seems to be holding them together in parliament is Phokeer’s heavy-handedness. It is perhaps only a matter of time before someone in Government House decides that dividing the opposition is a better tactic. But to do that, the National Assembly needs to be run with a softer, more sophisticated hand. And Phokeer does not fit the bill.  

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