JEAN-FRANCOIS FERRARI, the explosive member of the National Assembly for the district of Mont Fleuri, has spectacularly resigned from the National Assembly. The Speaker stated on national television that he has already issued a Certificate informing Ferrari and the Electoral Commissioner that the former is no longer a member of the National Assembly and that his seat has become vacant as he is required to do under article 81 (6) of the Constitution. It is incumbent on the Electoral Commissioner now to organize a bye-election for the district of Mont Fleuri.
Article 81(6) provides that: “A certificate under the hand of the Speaker certifying that a person has ceased to be a member of the National Assembly shall be conclusive evidence of this fact and of the fact that the seat held by that person is vacant…” The unprecedented resignation which sent shock waves throughout the country was totally unexpected. However, many political pundits are saying that there is more to it than meets the eye. Many are speculating about the true reason for this spectacular resignation. After coming back from a vacation in France recently Ferrari has been heard lamenting that he was tired of politics and wanted to move out. Whether he has used this window of opportunity to conveniently exit from the political scene is yet to be seen.
In its Vol 17 No. 21 of 20th June 2008, Regar has given the reason for the resignation as the Speaker's overt bias and refusal to allow Ferrari to speak in the National Assembly on Tuesday 17th June. However, this is nothing new, as Herminie has made it a habit to let his true colours show in the Assembly on numerous occasions before. For instance, Herminie has used every trick in the Standing Orders to gag the opposition and curtail their constitutional right to speak in the National Assembly contrary to their Constitutional right. Article 102(1) of the Constitution provides: “There shall be freedom of speech and debate in the National Assembly and a member shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any court or to any proceedings whatsoever, other than in the proceedings in the Assembly, when exercising those freedoms or performing the functions of a member in the Assembly.” Herminie's favourite word in the Assembly when he wants to gag the opposition members in the House has always been “irrelevant,” a word which he uses liberally to prevent opposition members from expressing themselves in the House. If Herminie did anything wrong on that fateful day it was to completely ignore Jean Francois Ferrari after he had moved the House to allow him to speak on the Public Officer's Ethics Bill. Ferrari was treated with the utmost contempt and disdain by the Speaker. The least the Speaker could have done is give a ruling on Ferrari's motion to intervene. According to the Standing Orders, the Speaker's ruling is final and conclusive anyway. His subsequent outburst screaming “Out” and ordering the police to remove Ferrari from the House was also uncalled for. Whether Ferrari was right to then go on and resigned as a member of the National Assembly because of the treatment he got from the Speaker, is also questionable. Although there has been numerous criticisms of Herminie's open bias and unfairness in the Assembly, to date no one has gone to the extent of actually resigning, although there has been some walk outs in the past as a form of protest.
Ramkalawan has dubbed the impending bye-election in Mont Fleuri as a referendum on democracy. This is not the first time Ramkalawan has used these fancy terminology to give the election a sense of urgency and importance. He used the same language in 2006 when President Michel dissolved the National Assembly and called for early elections.
Then the Democratic Party put all its differences aside and supported SNP wholeheartedly in order to achieve our common objective; that is, to stop SPPF from getting two thirds in the elections for fear that they might tamper with the Constitution. In fact, Ramakalawan was so obsessed with that notion that he used it as the reason for removing Frank Elizabeth from the National Assembly and breaking the alliance with DP. Ironically, by resigning, Ferrari may have actually handed SPPF the two thirds majority in the National Assembly on a plate; something which the SNP/DP alliance worked very hard to prevent in the first place.
This shows that there is a fundamental lack of clear political strategy and leadership in the SNP camp. In a crisis meeting at Arpent Vert on the 19th June, Ramkalawan and the SNP leadership tried desperately to make Ferrari change his mind about resigning but Ferrari would have none of it. After failing to persuade Ferrari, otherwise they all closed ranks and supported his decision. However, Ramkalawan is said to be secretly furious with Ferrari and the gap between the two has further widened as a result.
The question many people are now asking is whether Ferrari would resign again each and every time the Speaker stops him from speaking in the House?