To start the year, we invited Jean Claude de l’Estrac, journalist, former parliamentarian and former minister to give his own perspective on the past year. Which he does in his usual witty, uncompromising and candid way…

Another year has gone by leaving good and bad memories. What memories stand out for you?

This is a tall order. My list of bad memories may take pages of your newspaper.

I know but if I asked you for a concise answer…

OK. Let us try to be analytical rather than factual and numerical: year 2023 has been a year of lost opportunities. I continue to feel that this country has tremendous prospects that are being wasted year in year out by a government with a petty outlook and mean ambitions. The focus of government throughout the year has been twofold: first to secure a cheap popularity by dishing out money left, right and centre. Not all recipients are justifiably eligible to some of the gifts granted and for which our children will have to pay one day or another.

The second focus of the MSM has been to take control of all levers of the State apparatus to establish what is now clearly an MSM State. It is an autocratic regime bent on eroding the rights of its citizens, politicising the institutions and inducing fear in the large part of the population opposed to its actions. Let’s also recognise that the distribution of public money, astutely wrapped in social intent, has definitely helped one or two categories of people who really needed the support, namely the poor elderly and those in the lower sections of society.

Did this money dished out ‘left, right and centre’ as you rightly say not create the feel-good factor the government keeps bragging about?

If we go by opinion polls – and I do – most people, for most part of the year, have been troubled by the rising cost of living and the breakdown of law and order induced by the proliferation of drugs in spite of police efforts. Add to that what the polls have missed: the silent disapproval of our citizens of the endless revelations of corruption scandals and the numerous cases of nepotism. And perhaps, more importantly, the fear Mauritians do have now of their government.

Has it all been doom and gloom? Aren’t there events that make you smile when you look back on 2023?

Frankly, I see none. Now if you put a gun to my head and insist on a reply, I have one: It’s a report on the MBC-TV showing its director inaugurating a Christian grotto in the yard of MBC. It’s like, as the French says, «parler de corde dans la maison d’un pendu»…

What kind of events make you angry?

All sorts of what I see: rubbish on our lay-bys. Thoughtless drivers on our streets. Careless pedestrians. Uncourteous vendors in the shops. Ministers and members of parliament reading empty and propaganda speeches. Splashy headlines by journalists…

Talking about journalists and as a journalist yourself, do you think the past year was a good year for the media?

Very bad. Worldwide. Especially for the print media from the financial perspective. Print media is facing an existential threat. The circulation of newspapers has been severely constricted, income from advertising has shrunk dramatically. Many newspapers have disappeared. Many are on the verge of bankruptcy. The surviving ones will depend on cross-subsidisation or fall under the control of financial interests. In some democratic countries, the State is coming to the rescue of this ailing industry which is consubstantial to democracy. This is not going to happen here. On the contrary, many governments have contributed to the deepening of the financial troubles of newspapers by organised advertising boycotts. On the other hand, independent journalism is becoming a brave endeavour. I know of events occurring in a newspaper room for which, as an editor in chief, I would have killed somebody if I was in Texas…

Are we likely to see the end of our worries anytime soon?

On the contrary, the worst is yet to come. True it is that we have seen a definite improvement of the social and economic status of some of our citizens under this government but the fear we now have of Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth’s intolerance and arrogance, the way he operates to try to control our lives, the opacity of governmental decisions, the rampant nepotism, the sheer incompetency of many institutions, may be good reasons not to give his government a new lease.

On a lighter note, if 2023 were an animal, which one would it be?

A chameleon …Next year looks more promising. According to Chinese astrology, it will be the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon symbolises power, luck, success.

If it were a historical figure?

Without hesitation, yesterday and today, Lee Kuan Yew. I know no other politician of this generation who has been able to transform a poor and backward people into the world class elite Singaporeans are today. There was no secret: hard work, discipline, meritocracy, transparency, accountability. Mauritius today is the antithesis of Singapore.

Did 2023 teach us anything?

We never learn our lessons. The post-Covid world was supposed to be a new world of frugal governance, restrained consumption, economical and cleaner production, food security and sovereignty, enhanced solidarity between nations. None of these objectives is being achieved.

If you were to write a book about 2023, what would the title be?

The sad story of what might have been…

What is your crystal ball telling you about the events to expect in 2024?

There have been many instances in the history of our country when things looked terribly bad and our citizens felt desperate, but then came a surge of national spirit. I think we are at this crossroad again. Luckily, in 2024, Mauritians will have the opportunity to choose the future they want. w

If you had a magic rubber, what would you erase from 2023?

A rubber? I would need a pressure washer…

A third edition of Touria Prayag’s book “Provisional Charges: The Untold Human Stories” and her second book: “#BLD: When Mauritius Lost its Bedside Manners” are now available at Librairie Le Cygne, Le Printemps, Hobby World and all the Bookcourt outlets.