Tuesday’s sitting of the National Assembly did not provide any new information on the sale of Med Point clinic by Dr Malhotra to the State, for the launching of a geriatric hospital, for the sum of around Rs 144 million.

The head of government of the Republic of China, Wen Jiabao sent a message of congratulations to the head of government of the Republic of Mauritius two weeks ago to mark the 40th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and Mauritius.

It took the Acting President of the Republic Mrs Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau, more than two hours to enumerate a list of good intentions the government plans to realise in the coming three years, with many of them coming again as repetitions. The only surprise came when it was announced that in the near future it is most probable that we have a President of the Republic elected by Referendum rather than elected by the National Assembly.

The first sitting of the second session of the fifth National Assembly will take place on Monday 16 April 2012 at 3.30 p.m. On the agenda: Proclamation of the opening the ‘Second Session of the Fifth National Assembly’ which will be followed by the election of the Deputy Speaker and the Election of the Deputy Chairman of Committees. During the last session it was Prithivirajsingh Roopun and Kumaree Rajeshree Deerpalsingh who held these portfolios respectively.

The first sitting of the second session of the fifth National Assembly will take place on Monday 16 April 2012 at 3.30 p.m. On the agenda: Proclamation of the opening the ‘Second Session of the Fifth National Assembly’ which will be followed by the election of the Deputy Speaker and the Election of the Deputy Chairman of Committees. During the last session it was Prithivirajsingh Roopun and Kumaree Rajeshree Deerpalsingh who held these portfolios respectively.

The tug of war between Government and the Civil Society on whether to have a Media Commission or a Freedom of Information Act has been going on since 2010.

Do we have a frustrated Civil Service? A clear indication was given when the President of the Republic underlined that Civil Servants “have to wait about 6 years to get a promotion. One or two years can be understood not 11 years when some of them are pensioned off and even some have passed away. How can you get good services when civil servants have no job satisfaction? A frustrated civil service cannot be productive,” he exclaimed.

The next round of the tug-of-war between Dr Navin Ramgoolam and Sir Anerood Jugnauth has as backdrop the National Assembly. In one month’s time, will Ramgoolam consolidate his majority or will there be major political development that will take citizens to the poll again? 

After nearly half a century (44 years to be exact) since Mauritius became independent, the population is still in search of nationhood. Our Republic is still in the making and the sense of belonging to a motherland is far from being universally achieved.

When the Local Government Bill was voted at the National Assembly on Wednesday 7 December 2011, nobody believed that, included in the new Bill, were some provisions likely to create a stir among politicians. It was all about the realignment of municipal wards. Since then, the MSM came alive with new proposals, the MMM became vociferous and the President of the Republic greener than usual. As for Dr Navin Ramgoolam, he was clear at the summing up of debates on the Bill: those who are not satisfied could still go to the President for redress.  Sir Anerood Jugnauth is presently consulting all stakeholders to find a consensus on the matter.

The two highest dignitaries of the Christian community in Mauritius, His Grace the Archbishop Ian Ernest and His Worship the Bishop of Mauritius, Mgr Maurice Piat, launched their respective pastoral letter this week in the context of Lent 2012, which started with Ash Wednesday. During the following 40 days Christians are called upon by their respective church leaders to meditate on the content of the letters written for them. While Catholics are somewhat astonished at the theme of their bishop’s letter ‘The Blessing in Believing’, the Anglicans on the other hand are outright embarrassed when their Archbishop put the question to them: ‘Of What Use is the Church in To-day’s World?’

The President of the Mauritius Sanatan Dharma Temples Federation, Somduth Dulthumun is all fiery at what is happening these days with the head of government who has to face severe criticisms because of the speeches he pronounced at religious events.