66th Year -- No. 3698 Tuesday, July 27, 2021 www.mauritiustimes.com facebook.com/mauritius.times 18 Pages - ePaper MAURITIUS TIMES l "It's not just about being better. It's about being different. You need to give people a reason to choose your business." -- Tom Abbott Commission of Inquiry on Betamax Encounter: Armoogum Parsuramen, Chairman - Global Rainbow Foundation 'It is unlikely that a Supreme Court judge will be influenced "Whenever there is by any political motives' injustice; we cannot and should not remain quiet" By Lex + See Page 5 + See Page 8-9-10 Opinion Calamity compounded Record-breaking everything! 'Record-breaking,' 'unprecedented,' 'freak event,' 'unnatural,' 'extreme event': these are some of the terms being used to refer to the serial catastrophes that have been occurring in different By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee parts of the planet + See Page 3 By Jan Arden + See Page 4 Mauritius Times Tuesday, July 27, 2021 www.mauritiustimes.com Edit Page facebook.com/mauritius.times 2 The Conversation Why some people t was anBnounceed last Fridaay, aftmer the Caabinet xpirac,y a nda relategd offenaces unidenr the Prevention of meeting of the same day, that government had Corruption Act and the Public Procurement Act, as switch political parties decided to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to asked for by the police in December 2015, found hy do some Iinquire and report on, inter alia, 'the circumstances no evidence that the law, as it stood, had been people switch in which the contract for transport of petroleum breached. political par - products to Mauritius (Contract of Affreightment) However, the Lepep government was adamant Wties? After all, if someone was awarded to Betamax Ltd and the circums- that the law had been breached and colourable is committed enough to a tances which subsequently led to the termination of devices had been resorted to so as to allocate the particular vision of poli - the said contract'. This comes following the final contract to Betamax. Unwilling or not being able to tics, wouldn’t they be re- determination of this case by the Privy Council, negotiate the company out of the contract, it deci- latively immune to the which overturned the ruling of the Supreme Court, ded by end-January 2015 to rescind the Betamax charms of its competi - and confirmed the earlier ruling of the Singapore contract. It found a presumably cheaper alternative tors? International Arbitration Tribunal which found in for transporting our petroleum requirements. It turns out, however, favour of Betamax. A sitting judge, Hon Mrs Carol Whether this is true or not, we don’t know, as no that switching parties at Green-Jokhoo, Puisne Judge, will be the chairper - credible independent assessment has taken place. grassroots membership son, and she will have as commissioners Dr Push- The fact now is, as established earlier by the level is by no means pawant Boodhun, former Permanent Secretary Singapore Arbitration Centre and thereafter con - uncommon, even giving and Kodados Mosafeer, former Director, firmed by the Privy Council, that the Lepep go- rise in some quarters to accusations of “entryism”. Procurement and Supply, as Commissioners. vernment acted in breach of law by rescinding the The massive increase in Labour’s membership which accompanied Six billion rupees drawn from the public contract, for which the State, that is the people, has Jeremy Corbyn’s elevation to the leadership in 2015 was often anec - exchequer to pay for damages to Betamax for had to shell out a colossal amount of Rs 6 bn for dotally associated, at least in the minds of his enemies (internal as well unjustified breach of contract as well as legal fees damages and legal fees. as external), with an influx of people who had previously belonged to have gone down the drain in the process since the The decision to appoint a commission of inquiry parties on the far-left fringe of the country’s politics. contract was rescinded by the Lepep government prior to the rash decision-taking of 2015, might Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ adoption of an ever-harder position in 2015 without any perceivable benefit to the have been understood. Now that the colossal da- on Brexit was blamed by some not just on Theresa May’s desire to keep country, and one wonders what is sought to be mages have been inflicted on the population as Tory Eurosceptics on board, but on pressure put on more moderate achieved with this newly-appointed commission of confirmed by our court of last appeal, there is MPs by former members of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party inquiry. clearly the feeling that political motivations are at (UKIP) joining and even taking over their local associations. Readers will recall that one of the first dossiers stake to try and spin a narrative that soothes the the Lepep government issuing from the general damage and resentment of the population. Our new research sheds light on the truth of party-switching politics – how many people really switch, why people are motivated to do so, election of December 2014 took up after assuming The country is paying the price for a situation and whether the claims of entryism are credible. power was the contract given out to Betamax by where power goes to the head of politicians who the STC under the preceding government in 2009. think that they can get off scot-free no matter what Patterns of party-switching It tried at first to negotiate Betamax out of the coun - questionable decisions they take, how they twist We surveyed nearly 7,000 members of British political parties try’s petroleum transportation contract in January existing laws and rules to suit their momentary (including registered Brexit Party supporters) within two weeks of the 2015, on the ground that the contract would have conveniences and how they explain away contro - 2019 general election. When we analysed the data, we found a remar- been awarded unlawfully thanks to a colourable versial decisions. In France, past President Chirac, kably high proportion of our sample (23%) claimed to have previously device consisting of amending public procurement past PMs Laurent Fabius, Alain Juppé and been – or, if we allow for registered Brexit Party supporters as well, cur - laws and singling it out for privileged contract allo - Francois Fillon had to face the music for insalu- rently were – members of a different political party than the one to which cation. brious acts during their tenure and past President they were now affiliated. To no effect, since, as advised to the govern - Nicolas Sarkozy is currently in the dock for a va- ment by the State Law Office previously, the con - riety of alleged offences. Even in the USA, at least Some 29% of Tory members who admitted in 2019 to having been tract had been made fully compliant with the a dozen collaborators of past President Donald members of other parties claim to have been UKIP members. changed legal dispositions. That this was actually Trump have been arraigned and charged with va- Interestingly, though, virtually as many were former Labour members. the case was affirmed, as it were, by the Office of rious misdemeanours, with Trump Organisation As a proportion of all Conservative Party grassroots members, these the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), later itself under scrutiny. Isn't it about time to do away figures amount to 3% who were former members of UKIP, 4.5% who in November 2016. The ODPP explaining its deci - with the fig leaf of Cabinet collective responsibility were simultaneously Brexit Party supporters, and 4% who were ex- sion not to prosecute several persons including the and that politicians, just as high officials and advi - Labour members. former Prime Minister; former Minister of Public sors, be made answerable for acts that are against This puts into perspective the scale of the entryist phenomenon. At Infrastructure, Transport & Shipping; the director of the public interest or the greater good of the nation, most, 7.5% of all Tory members in 2019 had a history of connections Betamax and certain public officials for alleged particularly when public funds are involved? with UKIP or the Brexit Party (probably fewer, given the likely overlap of offences of bribery of public official, forgery, cons- UKIP and Brexit Party connections). This is not to say that their impact may not have been significant in certain constituencies when it came to selecting party candidates, nor Mauritius Times is it to deny that the Conservative Party grassroots have increasingly Founder/Editor: Beekrumsing Ramlallah - Aug 1954-Sept 2000 come to favour “hard” forms of Brexit over the course of the past few Editor-in-chief: M. Ramlallah / Senior Editor: Dr RN Gopee years. But it would appear that, in the vast majority of cases, this will This epaper has been produced with the assistance of have been down to the changing views of members who had no formal Doojesh Ramlallah, Sultana Kurmally and Kersley Ramsamy associations with UKIP or the Brexit Party. Pearl House 4th Floor Room 406 - Sir Virgil Naz Street, Port Louis Tel: 5-29 29301 Tel/Fax: 212 1313 Paul Webb, Prof of Politics, University of Sussex & Tim Bale, Prof of Politics, University of London [email protected] www.mauritiustimes.com facebook.com/mauritius.times l Cont. on page 10 Op-Ed Mauritius Times Tuesday, July 27, 2021 3 ‘RRecoerd-bcreakoing,’ r‘undprece-debntedr,’ ‘fereaka evenkt,’ ‘uinnnaturgal,’ ‘e xetremve eveent’:r theyse atreh somie onf theg term! s being used to refer to the serial catastrophes that have been occurring in different parts of the planet mal, unprecedented, freak or record- breaking about this because it takes place every year and people know it will happen.