66th Year -- No. 3643 Friday, January 15, 2021 www.mauritiustimes.com facebook.com/mauritius.times 18 Pages - ePaper MAURITIUS TIMES l "The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it." -- Albert Einstein Interview: Manou Bheenick Former Finance Minister & Governor of BOM “What the country needs is a general election; the sooner, the better!” Celebration of Colourful Diversity Dr R Neerunjun Gopee + See Page 3 + See Pages 7-8-9-12 Steering the Country towards Normality A Sobering Look at the Events of January 6, 2021 By Anil Madan + See Page 18 Being Covid-safe cannot be an alibi for procrastination. This is not the time to continue to bask in the glory of being Covid- safe. This is the time for urgent and carefully planned action A Year of Reckoning + By Mrinal Roy + See Page 4 Par Nita Chicooree-Mercier See Page 10 Mauritius Times Friday, January 15, 2021 www.mauritiustimes.com Edit Page facebook.com/mauritius.times 2 The Conversation Double Standards Civil unrest is today’s major onald Trump, who stands accused of inci- average citizen. But that does not appear to be the ting a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol case at all times. Don 6 January, has this week become the For example, we still do not know what the national security threat first president in US history to be impeached twice. Independent Broadcasting Authority, as the regula- The House of Representatives accused Mr Trump tor for all radio stations has done following the stand National security must be redefined to reflect new sources of of encouraging violence with his false claims of taken by the Electoral Supervisory Commission election fraud. He now faces trial in the upper (ESC) before the last general elections with regard security threats of the type that occurred at the US Capitol chamber, the Senate, which can vote to bar him to the MBC when it declared that the public broad- he end of the from ever holding public office again. That trial how- casting station might have breached the law. Yet the Cold War ever will likely not be completed before Trump’s IBA Board went on recently to take action against marked the term of office comes to an end on Jan. 20, and the Top FM, perceived to be anti-government. There T beginning of an era point has been debated in the US about whether a are so many other instances where the authorities of major shifts in the president can be impeached after he has left office have been seen to be pursuing a policy of double nature of security and what purpose it would serve at all. standards. The police has in the recent past acted threats. Internal within hours of complaints made by members of the One commentator, Hugh Hewitt, writing in The conflicts and civil ruling party regarding posts on social media, but no Washington Post, described the entire exercise as unrest of the type such alacrity has been seen when the President of ‘pointless revenge’. ‘It isn’t principled, it isn’t con- we saw in the the Labour Party gave a statement to the police cerned with justice and it isn’t concerned with the recent raid on the about the alleged criminal defamation by the MBC. future,’ he stated. To which Michael Blake, Profes- United States sor of Philosophy, Public Policy and Governance, The same scenario of perceived double stan- Capitol by Donald University of Washington, who writes about the dards had been seen to be playing out in the case Trump supporters Civil unrest of the type we saw in the recent raid on the moral justifications of social and legal institutions, of Soopramanien Kistnen, the MSM activist who have replaced US Capitol by Donald Trump supporters have replaced argues that there may be good moral reason for this has been found dead at Telfair, Moka. There are external military external military aggression as the major source of impeachment: ‘The move to impeach President also instances of ministers and parliamentarians aggression as the threat to human lives. Photo - dailystar.com Trump is an indication that there is a need to mark who have had to step down following allegations of major source of out, through a definitive statement, what no presi- corruption or misdemeanour, as well as the forced threat to human lives and state stability. dent ought to do. It will also set the moral limits of exit of Mrs Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, briefly the the presidency – and, thereby, send a message to President in this regime’s first mandate. Non-traditional threats such as transnational crime, cyber- future presidents who might be tempted to follow in attacks, bioterrorism, infectious diseases, pandemics and climate That is why the impeachment of President President Trump’s footsteps.’ change are now recognized as posing serious risks to the peace, Trump and the Senate trial that is to follow is of security and stability of nations. That the insurrection happened at the US Capi- interest for us, in that the outcome can act as a tol, the seat of American democracy and usually guide to our legal brains and/or legislators as to Nonetheless, this shift isn’t reflected in the national security referred to as the ‘citadel of democracy’, shocked what constitutional changes or reforms need to be strategies of most countries as they continue to remain fixated on the whole world, but the second impeachment of brought about to detract future occupiers of consti- addressing traditional threats through military might. Donald Trump has come to demonstrate that the tutional positions or of public office representing the Low priority system in the US works, and that it would be wrong people from behaviours and actions that go against to compare the insurrection at the US Capitol to the national interest and the dignity expected by An analysis of the national security strategies of G20 countries, similar events that occasionally happen in other virtue of being in such positions. for example, shows that non-traditional security threats like pan- countries. demics, cyber-attacks and climate change are either absent from Besides the process of the impeachment and their lists of potential threats or assigned a low priority. The 2017 Our own system provides that nobody is above what is to follow, there is also the issue of being eli- National Security Strategy in the US, for instance, lists “inter-state the law but that people are presumed to be inno- gible for public office in future that has been evo- strategic competition” as the primary national security concern. cent unless proven guilty. Our Constitution provides ked, and surely is equally relevant for our country Likewise, the entire focus of China’s defence considerations, for safeguards with regard to the protection of the too. On the other hand, one must also question according to its most recent defence white paper, is its rapid eco- individual’s rights and avenues for redress, but whether such destitute individuals should continue nomic growth, technological advancements with respect to weapons even the best constitutional safeguards are not to benefit by the perks that follow them out of office, systems and the shifting international geo-political landscape. always enough. What is equally important are the as these have a bearing on the taxpayers who have individuals who occupy constitutionally protected to pay the price for such largesses. And although Russia’s security policy includes political, econo- positions and their own view of the responsibilities mic and societal stability, in practice it is overwhelmingly focused on of their office, their integrity and their commitment to As many other observers have pointed out in military means to ensure national security. uphold the Constitution and serve the best interests the past, there is definitely a need to revisit our of the people and the country. Be it the police and Constitution in light of the many incidents concer- Shortcomings its CCID, ICTA, IBA or any other relevant entity in a ning public personalities in official positions that This approach has serious shortcomings that are laid bare by the given context, one would expect them to act with have taken place and for which there are no provi- ongoing pandemic and other recent developments, including the vio- the same sense of fairness and alacrity whether the sions in the present Constitution. We shall be lent attack on the US Capitol and incidents of police brutality that complainant happens to be a Minister or the watching events unfold in the US with great interest. resulted in widespread Black Lives Matter protests last year. These major events are a stark reminder of the changing nature of threats. They indicate that first and foremost, many sources of Mauritius Times [email protected] human and state insecurity are internal in nature and are often linked Founder/Editor: Beekrumsing Ramlallah - Aug 1954-Sept 2000 to systemic inequities and social injustice. Editor-in-chief: M. Ramlallah / Senior Editor: Dr RN Gopee www.mauritiustimes.com This epaper has been produced with the assistance of Sadia Mariam Malik, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, York University, Canada Doojesh Ramlallah, Sultana Kurmally and Kersley Ramsamy Pearl House 4th Floor Room 406 - Sir Virgil Naz Street, Port Louis facebook.com/mauritius.times Tel: 5-29 29301 Tel/Fax: 212 1313 * Cont. on page 12 Op-Ed Mauritius Times Friday, January 15, 2021 3 Celebration of Colourful Diversity of Makar Sankranti a little more freely, as also the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar towards which people have started to travel already. Protection will no doubt come from the special prayers which are devotionally offered to Sun Deity today for His goodwill on humanity.