It is too late for Roshi Bhadain to change his mind about tendering his resignation. And he won’t. By the end of next week at the latest, we will dive into an electoral campaign no political party genuinely wants.

Bhadain’s detractors say he is immature, impulsive and unstable and that the whole country – which is still paying for the damage he has helped to cause – will end up paying for a fantasy that belonged only to him. His admirers, on the other hand, see him as a principled man who will bring about the shift we need from traditional parties to a new way of doing politics. As for what he thinks of himself, it was summed up in an interview he recently gave Weekly when he first announced his intention to resign: “I stand as a tall, dark and handsome young man. Compare that with the alternative!”

Whatever we may think of him, one has to grant him one thing: His ability to turn his back on power and huge privileges, even if that is driven by a disproportionate ambition. Admittedly, when Pravind Jugnauth inherited the prime minister’s seat, he cut him down to size but Bhadain could have done what many of his former colleagues did: swap his dignity for some crumbs of power and privilege not only for him but for his whole family. Don’t forget that the two parties in government today have turned the whole country into a feeding trough for their relatives and cronies.

But he chose to leave government and soon he will walk out of the National Assembly and embark the country on an election few have anything to gain from. For one thing, the PMSD leader, Xavier-Luc Duval, has asked him to review his position and – surprisingly – even Arvin Boolell from the Labour Party – who was rumoured to be a sure bet for the Labour Party should it decide to field a candidate – tried to dissuade him from resigning. Since the Mouvement Patriotique does not seem to have the political muscle to put up a candidate of its own, and the Labour Party has not decided whether it will file a candidate or not, we are left with the MMM… and Bhadain himself.

The government must be terrified of a by-election. You will recall that they did everything to keep both Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo and Raj Dayal in the National Assembly and they even invented a position for the minister mentor to avoid the smell of a by-election. But there is equally little enthusiasm for this by-election in the opposition ranks. Besides, there is no certainty which way the Quatre Bornes constituents will lean. There are several possible scenarios and therein lies the danger.

A candidate from the opposition – the MMM, the Labour Party if it fields one or Bhadain himself – may well win, which may shake the government slightly but it will do little to dampen their determination to serve us more of the same.

Considering that the government’s unpopularity has hit rock-bottom, it may chicken out of the election. If it runs the risk of fielding a candidate, though, ruling out a government victory completely would be unwise. Government has the money, it has the jobs and the possibility to follow through with promises of more jobs and even a ministry for their candidate. And voters are even more cynical than politicians. Many may hold their noses and back the government in the hope of getting a boutte. If the government candidate wins, that will put a lot of wind in their sails and we will spend the next couple of years watching more abuse of power, of resources, more nepotism and even more cronyism. No need to say that Bhadain will be discredited beyond hope of resurrection. The other opposition parties which will have fielded candidates will take some pretty bad hits on the way.

That’s, admittedly, a lot of ifs, and the likelihood of such a calamity is very small. But when you know that we do live in interesting times, you understand why some opposition members are trying hard to glue Bhadain to his seat. A bit too late, in my opinion.

For more views and in-depth analysis of current issues, subscribe to Weekly for as little as Rs110 a month. Free delivery to your door. Contact us: touria.prayag@lexpress.mu(link sends e-mail)(link sends e-mail)