George at Studio 2GLF 89.3 fm

George at Studio 2GLF 89.3 fm
Broadcasting Emission Kontak

Thursday 23 February 2017

Regional Elections in the Island of Rodrigues

Regional elections in Rodrigues
by GDL

The regional elections in Rodrigues were held on the 12 February 2017 and the sitting government of L'Organisation du Peuple de Rodrigues (OPR) won an overwhelming victory against the opposition party the Movement Rodriguais(MR).
The OPR is led by Serge Clair who came to politics in 1976 and founded the party. It was a very humble beginning with no money, no equipment, no experience of campaigning but with only the message that the island and the people should be represented by Rodriguans, and to prove, in the long run, that Rodriguans are capable of taking the affairs of the island in their own hands.  The message was clear and simple and it marked a new beginning and a turnaround in the way politics will be shaped in Rodrigues.
In the previous elections held in August 1967, a Mauritian party, the PMSD had conquered Rodrigues with 98% of the votes. The PMSD leader, Gaetan Duval was a very strong and popular leader, especially among the Creoles. His party had won 44 % of the votes in Mauritius but lost to the Independence Party. It was consequently a mammoth task for Serge Clair and his new born party to turn 98% of voters away from the PMSD. However, prior to the arrival of Serge Clair on the scene, the small group of Rodriguan elite had started to organise and think of breaking away from political parties coming from the mainland Mauritius. It was also due to the fact that the elected members, representing Rodrigues in the National Parliament namely, Guy Olivery and Clement Roussety had "deserted" the island. So, when Serge Clair started his "dialogue" with the Rodriguans, he already had the support of the elite of Rodrigues. After only three months of campaigning, the OPR catched 36% of the votes. It was a defeat and a victory at the same time. From then on, the OPR grew momentum and won the subsequent elections overwhelmingly.
After having been a  minister for Rodrigues in the Mauritian government, Serge Clair found that a Ministry for Rodrigues was not good enough and started campaigning for devolution, that is for Rodrigues to be an autonomous region with a regional assembly. He finally won that battle after 20 years of perseverance.
In 2002, the MMM/MSM government of Mauritius declared the island of Rodrigues as an autonomous region based on the model of Trinidad and Tobago. The first regional elections were help in 2002 and obviously the OPR won  against another rodriguan party, the MR. From then on started a new chapter in the history of Rodrigues when the Rodriguans were taking matters in their own hands and decided what is good for the island and how resources should be distributed. It was again humble beginnings and a learning curve for the new local politicians who were suddenly called  to assume responsibilities, take major decisions and develop policies and administer. They did not do too bad during that teething period.
In 2006 the MR took control of the Regional Assembly after a coup d'état de palais. The new team under the leadership of Johnson Roussety subsequently won the next elections by a narrow margin. It was new style of government where there were heaps of corruptions and nepotism. There were also internal fighting within the MR to the point that the leader of the MR, Nicholas VonMally, had to dismiss the sitting Chief Commissioner Johnson Roussety. Subsequenly the latter broke way and formed his own party the Front Patriotique Rodriguais (FPR).
The regional elections of 2012 were a contest among the OPR, MR  and FPR and conseqently the OPR of Serge Clair won back the control of the Regional Assembly. A new and more experienced team under the leadership of the Chief Commissioner Serge Clair, started a series of revolutionary measures to develop the island: kiliometres of roads were constructed, a better heath system in place, investment in schools and colleges, incentives for small business, the tourism industry saw a boost, gites and tables d'hotes grew exponentially, the economy thus became decentralised  where ordinary  Rodriguans, who had become small entrepreneurs, had their share. Rodrigues also became ecologically friendly with the banning of plastic bags and regulating the fishing of octopus and greening the island. On the flip side, during the past two years the island suffered a drought and water became a problem which hindered the agricultural industry and water for consumption became a rare commodity. In the absence of rain, desalination plants had to be operated but unfortunately they could not cater for the demand. The government had to deal with the scarcity of water and management of the water distribution to the people  was not at its best.
Then came the new regional elections on February 2017 and balancing the problems against the positives, the people of Rodrigues chose to continue with the OPR administration on one side, and they rejected the opposition team which had misgoverned the country from 2006 to 2012 on the other. Thinking that Johnson Roussety would be in power again was scary and this was the major downfall of the opposition. He had been so bad while in power that the people of Rodrigues will never forget and forgive him.
GDL