PRESIDENT MICHEL PUTS HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH YET AGAIN!

PRESIDENT MICHEL PUTS HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH YET AGAIN!

In what can only be described as a bizarre series of embarrassing contradictions, President Michel promptly announced the dissolution of the National Assembly on 20th March this year in his annual State of the Nation address stating that the members of the National Assembly were not serious and were not doing their jobs. He said that these MNAs were letting the people who elected them down and that there was now a pressing urgency to go back to the people to let them decide if they want these MNAs to continue to represent them in the National Assembly.

What is bizarre about this statement is the fact that since 1993 the SPPF has always won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, making it relatively easy to pass laws proposed by the government and implement the vision of the president. This being the case, it is strange, therefore, for the president to advance this particular reason for dissolving the Assembly and calling for fresh parliamentary elections. The only logical conclusion is that the SPPF MNAs are not pulling their weights in the National Assembly and the president has finally decided to ditch them in favour of more dynamic candidates.

This argument seems to be true since most of the previous SPPF MNAs have now been changed in the districts and new candidates are being introduced all the time. No less than fourteen new candidates have now been chosen to replace the previous crop of MNAs in the SPPF’s new line up. These are Joseph Francois for Anse Aux Pins, Marc Naiken for Au Cap, Terrence Francoise for Anse Royale, Charles Morel for Anse Etoile, Wingate Mondon for Beau Vallon, Wilby Lucas for Baie Lazarre, Wills Agricole for Bel Air, Andrew Padayachy for Mont Fleuri, Michel Marie for Mont Buxton, Emmanuel Fideria for Les Mamelles, Roy Nibourette for English River, David Payet for Glacis, Jeniffer Vel for Pointe Larue, and Bernard Adonis for the Plaisance constituency.

Mrs. Gamatis, SPPF candidate for Port Glaud, is person not replaced by the party hierarchy.

The only candidate who seems to be presenting the SPPF with a real headache is the candidate for Port Glaud, Mrs Ginette Gamatis, also affectionately known as “manman”. It seems that the SPPF hierarchy cannot make up their minds whether to ditch her altogether or to prolong her misery further. Most of the SPPF candidates appear to be relatively young with the exception of manman who seems to stick out like a sore thumb from the present crop. It remains to be seen whether the people of Port Glaud will endorse Mrs Gamatis as their representative in the National Assembly or opt for the younger and more pragmatic David Pierre of the SNP. Mrs Gamatis, appears to be well pass her ‘sell by’ date and her retirement from politics is long overdue. Manman, it seems, has consciously or unconsciously, taken the SPPF slogan of “Tenir pa Lage” quite literally!