Maryse Berlouis scored ten out of ten for her performance over both parts of the program. She was considered excellent by most people we interviewed; she managed to fend off the attacks considered soft by most from Jean Francois Ferrari. She also did a good job at promoting herself as the person to put the National Health Service in order. Time will tell.
A miserable Jean-Francois Ferrari did not do himself justice at all and scored a meagre six points. He was definitely not himself at all most people we talked to, said. He was too apologetic in his criticisms of the Health system, which is still to show any major improvement under Mrs. Berloius. He went on the defensive according to pundits. He should have put Mrs. Berlouis on the spot, instead he allowed her to harangued and taunt him over and over again. She attacked him on past criticisms by opposition papers of the failing health service in the country.
Doctor Jude Gedeon managed to score only four points. Most thought he was poor technically and did not make proper use of his knowledge as a technician. Many said that “he was only propping up the system in general and Maryse Berlouis in particular.” Mrs. Berlouis spoke more like the technician, which made Gedeon pale in comparison.
Doctor Tony Wong was not rated at all, so we will give him a score of ‘nil’. The people we spoke to thought Dr. Wong’s participation was futile in this debate. Although undisputedly intelligent, Dr. Wong could not communicate his thoughts clearly and in a coherent manner. His contribution was thus a disappointment as the general public expected more from him as a Seychellois doctor practicing in Reunion. They are of the opinion that he should have stated clearly the reasons he left the local Health Service in order to help identify the real reason behind the drainage of local medical workers who prefer to work overseas rather than here. “He sat on the fence,” viewers told us.
For now Mrs. Maryse Berlouis, the CEO of the newly created Health Authority remains the new Queen of the health service, outshining even the Minister, Marie-Pierre Lloyd. The camera shy Minister has cunningly, deliberately or otherwise, taken a back seat as far as publicity goes. She might well be the one who will finally come out on top, irrelevant of whether the Health Service end up being a failure or success story!