Labour wooing Bodha in MSM break-up spectre
The spectre of a break-up of the MSM is looming ahead of the Privy Council ruling on whether Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth committed corruption during his mandate as a deputy Prime Minister.
Sources close to the political landscape in Mauritius told our New Delhi correspondent to expect a break-up of the MSM of Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
The source said if the Labour Party succeeds in its move to persuade members of the MSM to quit the party now, a break-up will be on the cards.
This is due to heavy lobbying from a major political formation in the opposition, the Labour Party, which is campaigning within the corridors of power to woo Ministers and MSM members to quit and join its formation.
At this moment, Labour is said to be on the look out for a new leadership lineup, and it has approached Ministers and A high ranking Civil Servant to jump ship while it is still time.
Among the ministers, the name of Nando Bodha is persistently spoken of though there are no indications whether the minister is willing to cross-over to the Labour.
Nevertheless, there are talks of rifts among the Labour and MSM leadership altogether.
Some in the MSM is said to be weary that the PM is still holding on to power in the wake of the Privy Council ruling expected within months.
Labour-PMSD in talks see page 2
Labour-PMSD in talks
The Labour Party or PTR is in talks with the Party Mauricien Social Democrat (PMSD) of Xavier Duval in preparation for its ‘return’ to power, said a source close to the talks.
The Labour party, which is still facing the backlash of the last election defeat and the failure by its leader Navin Ramgoolam to get elected, has offered a small share of seats to Xavier.
“It is a 47-13 deal,” said the source.
That is 47 seats for the Labour and 13 for the PMSD, with the idea that the PMSD will give tacit support to the Labour in the upcoming by-elections in constituency n°18 (Belle-Rose–Quatre-Bornes).
Labour has announced its candidate, Arvind Boolell, for the by-election but sources said the chances of a Labour-PMSD victory should not be discounted.
Another source told WorldfutureTV that Arvind Boolell might be facing a final litmus test, one that will derail his ambitions to snatch the Labour leadership from Ramgoolam.
If he loses the by-elections, he will also lose all the chances of gaining the Labour leadership battle, the source said.
Yet, winning it will not be sufficient for him to pose a serious challenge to Ramgoolam, altogether, not in the short run.
But the Labour party and the PMSD alliance – if it materialises – might derail in the face of a Movement Militant Mauricien (MMM) party boosted by prospects of support from foreign nations that are friends of the country,
After a spell of shock that rocked the Labour Party with the survey published by Worldfuturetv.com, the age-old political organisation is working on a long-term strategy that it hopes will overturn the situation against it.
Trashed in the last elections held in 2014 – results of which Worldfuturetv.com was the ONLY news site to predict – the party saw its fortunes rising after the succession of wrongful doing and misplaced agenda’s by the current ruling coalition.
Labour revival?
The coalition now headed by newly minted Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, son of stalwart and economic miracle champion Sir Aneerood Jugnauth (SAJ), has seen its support dwindle and is currently barely surviving in power.
A source close to the political circles in Mauritius who has access to confidential information within the local political formations told Worldfuturetv.com he believed the Labour Party is putting forward a plan to revive its chances.
Detailing some of the plans, the source said: “Labour is working on a strategy to win power with former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam as the leader.”
This reinforces our information, and the information gleaned from the recent survey conducted by the Indian agency that the Labour Party does not have plans to terminate Ramgoolam’s leadership role, at least not in the immediate future.
The Indian survey on the political situation in Mauritius indicated that the Labour Party will only win 17-18 seats if it changed leadership, but it will only win 7-8 seats with the current stable of leaders.
Though the party have strong support among the Hindu community in Mauritius, this support does not seem enough to give the Labour an edge over its political foes.
It emerged as the second biggest party in the last elections, but the support may have slipped over time, though the Labour Party does have at least 25-30% natural support among the Mauritian population.
It will need a strong showing from the Muslim community, which has swung a share of its vote away from the Movement Militant Mauricien (MMM) of Paul Berenger recently, to give Labour a better chance to compete in the fluid electoral landscape.
Speaking to WorldfutureTv, the source said Labour leader does not seem to bother much about the survey, which the party believes does exist, however.
“Labour does not agree with New Delhi’s views on the current political landscape and on the chances of the political parties in any election scenario.
“The Labour had always had rifts with New Delhi on several issues.
“One of these issues remain the territorial integrity of the nation and meddling in the local affairs of the country, which successive Labour regime halted,” said the source.
The source said the Labour Party believes Navin is still popular and there is a wave that is rising in favour of labour at this moment.
MSM demise
A brief survey carried by Worldfuturetv.com sampling Facebook users from Mauritius showed an astonishing rise of the Navin Ramgoolam and Paul Berenger.
But it also confirmed the possible political demise of the MSM leader, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
The rise of the MMM confirms the survey’s result, while the strong showing by Navin Ramgoolam does not really dismiss the Indian survey results, whereas the good showing by Labour indicates it has kept its support base of 25-30% making it a formidable force in local politics.
The demise of the Movement Socialist Militant (MSM) is thus confirmed.
A simple calculation made by WorldfutureTv shows that in the eventuality the MMM were to win the next General Elections (GE), the Labour party would form a strong opposition.
The reason for this will be the Labour Party, keeping its natural support base, would be able to defeat the Movement Socialist Militant (MSM) of PM Pravind Jugnauth while it will not be able to garner sufficient support to beat the MMM.
In the Worldfuturetv survey, both Ramgoolam and Berenger shares the spoils of victory with 30% each.
Data also shows the Party Mauricien Social Democrat (PMSD) leader Xavier-Luc Duval in strong third position with 13%.
Pravind Jugnath also shared the third post with Duval with 13%, and this confirms the Indian survey data that says the Movement Socialist Militant (MSM) has lost its steam and will be beaten in an electoral scenario.