Sir,

As Director of Public Prosecutions, you issued a communiqué informing us that, in the Med Point case, your office has “concluded that there is sufficient evidence to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth for conflict of interest”. You also called for caution in commenting on the above matter “in any way that may jeopardise the conduct of the case”.

It is not our intention to “jeopardise the case” so we are not going to comment on it. However, you may have heard that the leader of the opposition has expressed the opinion that your timing is “not a coincidence” – a direct attack on the integrity of your office but you are big enough to defend yourself. You will, however, allow us to give you a few lessons on how to conduct your affairs to avoid any negative comment in the future.

1. You should avoid taking decisions of this nature at a time when the prime minister has expressed his intention of coming out with a white paper on electoral reform. Admittedly, the prime minister has been talking about the white paper for the last few months but what are a few months in the life of the justice system?

2. Once the reforms have been announced, it would be very bad timing to have criminal proceedings initiated against Former Minister of Finance Pravind Jugnauth. When people are busy analysing how to get to power, it would be considered in poor taste to spoil their fun. And, naturally, once the election date has been decided, announcing legal action against someone is totally out of place.

3. You should wait for the remake discussions to come to a conclusion. That means of course, waiting for the opposition to finalise the number of seats each party will walk away with, who will have an investiture and who will be rewarded in some other way and whether – in case of victory – Shawkatally Soodhun will occupy the very powerful position of vice-president of the republic.

Such life-changing matters, which every citizen of this country is not sleeping at night thinking about, should be considered fully by your office. That also means waiting for the tsunami to take place, followed by the cooling-off period, the macadams (hurdles) to be ironed out for the gallery and the meeting of the central committee and the delegates’ meeting to rubberstamp whatever decision the leader of the opposition decides to take. What’s another year or two?

4. You should also take into consideration major happy events like our national day and unhappy ones like the periods of mourning we have been through. Your office, sir, has to be sensitive to our mood as a nation.

5. Consult our meteorological station and find out what the weather will be like and – hoping they get it right for a change – decide on a day when the temperature is just right for the people of this country to hear the kind of news you are about to Announce.

6. Consult the religious bodies to make sure your decision does not coincide with the festive season of any particular religion. You do realise that the announcement of your recent decision coincides with the fasting period of at least two major communities. A double whammy if you ask me.

7. Alternatively, you could conduct a survey – or, better still, a referendum – to find out how many people would like to know where Rs145m of their hard-earned money went and act accordingly. It is always safe to consult people about how much justice they have an appetite for.

8. In the end, the safest option may be to leave alone anyone who is politically-connected one way or the other. Concentrate all your efforts on those of us who have no political protection. No one will raise a voice in our defence so, though justice may not be done, it will be seen to be done. That, in third world countries, is what matters.

weekly@lasentinelle.mu