“At heart intelligence is rooted in the severest of all ethical principles: truth telling’

<p><em><strong>Drexel Godfrey</strong> <strong>in </strong>Foreign Affairs<strong> 56:3 (1978)</strong></em></p>

In a recent interview to Week-End, Arvind Boolell requests the President “à faire un examen de conscience”; Yousouf Mohamed asks her to go while Raouf Bundhun, commenting on the latest events associated with Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, speaks of her various faux pas. Paul Berenger says that “elle s’est disqualifiée pour être présidente de la République”. Many others have commented on the President’s silence around the “Alvarogate” affair, highlighting how doubts, exacerbated by such silence, contribute to a very unhealthy atmosphere.

What is shocking and revolting is that while thousands of Mauritians are asking for the simple TRUTH, a handful of men, particularly from the camp who appointed the President, are shamelessly trying to pit the women of this country against men who are claiming for greater transparency and accountability. The argument that the “attacks” on the President are dishonouring women is a false one! How convenient and hypocritical! Some patriarchs have now turned into great women protectors and defenders! I suppose the views of the Mouveman Liberasyon Fam on the matter, published in one of the mainstream papers, have helped to clear the air.

Some days back, one of the backbenchers in Parliament claimed (on a private radio station), that his role is to uncover the truth. He proposed to do this when Parliament re-opens. We simply hope that his questions will be directed towards the Alvarogate affair since the reputation of our country is at stake. Our financial jurisdiction is under threat with significant potential repercussions on the economy.

What is even more serious is that the names of some highly respectable and well-esteemed fellow citizens have been dragged into this affair. Keeping silent does not help, it is our duty and moral responsibility to bring light to this matter. The latter should be pursued with the greatest expediency since many ordinary citizens are at risk when we start opening our doors to the likes of Alvaro.  

Ameenah, soon after you took the presidential oath, I wrote a piece: A President from the intellectual class. I saluted you and was very proud to have a woman scholar as the President of the Republic. When you proffered that you wished to be a “Présidente de proximité” and that your goal was to “fédérer la nation”, we were most impressed.

Many young people at the University looked upon you as a model but models cannot survive when they allow opacity and absence of objectivity to prevail. My attention has recently been drawn to an interview that you gave to CNBC Africa (See link: http://gallery.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=513193036000). From that interview, it was clear that rising above party politics is not an easy task - does this go against the spirit of the Constitution and your function as the President of the Republic?

Understanding what it takes to be the President of the Republic is way above what many think. Your statements: “… the party that was presenting me was a very small party” and “that it was like a battle between David and Goliath” and you go on to say, “… WE had against us 2 major parties” and “WE saw that WE had won with a landslide” etc, speaks volumes about the independence of the guardian of our Constitution. No wonder that those very people who appointed you are standing up in arms, almost justifying your silence.

When Paul Berenger and Navin Ramgoolam shut down Parliament for several days, I wrote a piece addressed to the then President : Ideology and Custodians of our democracy- A call for action, which featured in l’express of 4 september 2014. Invoking section 28 of the Constitution, I reminded him that we, ordinary citizens, expect him to uphold the constitutional values and protect our institutions. I then asked him how “he could possibly keep silent and allow the closing of our Parliament.”

Being on the side of TRUTH and OBJECTIVITY is not always easy even for intellectuals whose main role is the “Pursuit of truth”. Our scriptures also tell us how important the TRUTH and Truthfulness are. It is perhaps pertinent to refer to our sacred scriptures at this point since they constitute important elements of our diversity - a diversity which speaks to your project of “fédérer la nation”. The latter is what we often rely on to praise our uniqueness and project ourselves as a model of peace and harmony. Can there be Peace without Truth and Justice?

^{Surat 2 : v 42 of the Holy Quran notes:}

<p><sup>&ldquo;<em>And mix not truth with falsehood nor conceal the truth whilst you know it.&rdquo;</em></sup></p>

<p><sup>and</sup></p>

<p><sup>Surat 9: V 119</sup></p>

<p><sup>&ldquo;<em>O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah and be with the True ones</em>.&rdquo;</sup></p>

<p><sup>St John in the Bible states:</sup></p>

<p><sup>&ldquo;<em>Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth</em>.&rdquo;</sup></p>

<p><sup>And from Psalm 13-2-3 of the Holy Bible, we can note:</sup></p>

<p><sup>&ldquo;<em>The one whose walk is blameless,</em></sup></p>

<p><sup><em>Who does what is righteous,</em></sup></p>

<p><sup><em>Who speaks the truth from their heart,</em></sup></p>

<p><sup><em>Whose tongue utters no slander,</em></sup></p>

<p><sup><em>Who does no wrong to a neighbour,</em></sup></p>

<p><sup><em>And casts no slur on others&rdquo;</em>;</sup></p>

All religions in this country speak about TRUTH as a virtue, thus reminding us that such practice can contribute to make our societies stronger - with a better chance for integrity and morality to be enhanced.

The Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 tells us

“It is truth that conquers, not falsehood. It is the path of rectitude alone that men of learning and piety have hidden, and it is by following this path that the great sages of righteous desires have reached the Supreme abode of Truth – Ishwara.”

And from the Tablets of Baha Ullah, Tarazat, we have the following:

“Trustworthiness is the greatest portal leading unto the tranquility and security of the people. In truth the stability of every affair hath depended and doth depend upon it. All the domains of power, of grandeur and of wealth are illumined by its light.”

We call ourselves a secular state and yet we know how some of the socio cultural groups, with the support of certain politicians, continue to blend religion and ethnicity with politics. Perhaps the search for TRUTH can bring about a new form of secularism as we approach our 50^th independence anniversary. The recent Grand-Bassin episode (with its nou ki fer eleksyon) could perhaps have been a subject of your reflection and intervention.

We are blessed, proud and comforted to have someone like Cardinal Piat to look up to. In many ways, he is some kind of mentor to our fragile nation. Without values within an overall framework of TRUTH, there can be no effective mentoring and role models. When self appointed mentors and their close ones guided by greed discourse on values while swimming in a sea of lies, we can only pray for a better, more ethical Mauritius. True service, we are reminded by Cardinal Piat, means selflessness but if we speak Truth to Power, we would agree that many of those claiming to serve the nation, are doing little else than serve themselves.

But there is hope since a number of people including some of our politicians, have realised that their moves have not always been inspired by TRUTH and HUMILITY. Some of them want a rupture from the past and others have done their mea culpa, they have broken the silence, they seem now more inclined towards some kind of renaissance, renewal. Can we trust them? But we argue that there can be no renewal without transparency and accountability. To my fellow citizens, I therefore say that it is our collective and moral responsibility to push for a “freedom of information act” and a “two-term limit” since these are essential tools for greater transparency.

I also call upon the President of the Republic to give the citizens of this country a hand in pushing for a Freedom of information act, knowing fully well that this would not be sufficient to enlighten us on the Alvaro affair but it is necessary.

The following quote from Buddha is most apt here:  “The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows”.