What I am writing today is neither meant to defend you nor to turn the knife. You are big enough to defend yourself and turning the knife in what must be a very sore wound is not my style. There are naturally many things I could call you out on: your single-mindedness, your stubbornness and what might be perceived as arrogance... But I will take a rain check on that until you turn the corner and are back fully on your feet.

As a citizen, I would like to publicly share your sadness about what is happening to a party you spent decades of your life building and about what has become of people you made from scratch. Today, many of those you raised from nothing have demonstrated that human nature can be very ugly indeed. Men and women of simple desires whose conscience and memory do not seem to be unaffordable. The mere fact of dangling the carrot of power and benefits can siphon off all the memories people had of a government they fought so vehemently against.

And suddenly all the outrageous nepotism we have suffered from in the last five years is gone. Gone are all the scandals from Dufry-Frydu to MedPoint where the ICAC turned against its own self to get to its allotted aim. Gone are the memories of a destroyed conglomerate, of innocent men and women being hauled off to the CCID and kept overnight in deplorable conditions out of sheer revenge. Forgotten are all the court cases that were thrown out by our courts of law after the ordeal of many hapless citizens. And who even remembers the shameless legal legerdemain that saw the seat of power miraculously transferred from father to son? All has been forgotten and so have the laws that have been nibbling away at our civil rights. Only one thing matters: grabbing power at any cost.

“Once they have sold their conscience, they have nothing else to sell. Except resell it again. But a second-hand conscience is much cheaper.”

In this dog and pony show orchestrated by a party badly in need of turncoats in an attempt to finish off your party, one thing should never be underestimated: the power of the voter. Right now, there is a general feeling of revulsion at what our politics and many of our politicians have turned into. Admittedly, the political arena has never been some sort of a place of worship but those who were prepared to trade themselves for power used to be few and far between. What we are seeing today is large scale wholesale. It is appalling. How the voters’ disgust will translate into the ballot box no one at this point knows. The possibility that it might work in your favour cannot be ruled out though, provided that you do your mea culpa this time. After all, if votes were the property of candidates, dissidents would have won the day a long time ago.

I know it is hard for you to find a reason to rejoice at what is going on but you should derive some satisfaction from the fact that those who could express their opinion and even disagree openly when they were in your party have already had all that courage sucked out of them and they immediately joined the propaganda wagon. They are now repeating the same spin about the great “social measures” introduced. Has money also affected their brains to the point that they no longer make the difference between real “social measures” that help people help themselves and come out of poverty and “populist measures” intended solely to buy votes by throwing money at voters to create a short-term feel-good factor?

If none of the above makes you smile, consider this: from now on, those who have welcomed turncoats in their midst will never sleep well. Do you think that those who betrayed you after decades will have any qualms about betraying their new masters?

Once they have sold their conscience, they have nothing else to sell. Except resell it again. But a second-hand conscience is much cheaper. That applies to everyone’s conscience. Let that sink in.

For more views and in-depth analysis of current issues, Weekly magazine (Price: Rs 25) or subscribe to Weekly for Rs110 a month. (Free delivery to your doorstep). Email us on: weekly@lexpress.mu