MAURITIUS: Living in an unfair system

In Mauritius, like in many democratic and capitalist countries, we have a system where a Government, an Opposition and a local Government are elected by the people through free and fair elections every five years and during their five year-mandate, the elected members of the Parliament, Municipalities and District Councils have the duty to serve the people, to protect human rights and most essentially to make sure that Laws and procedures are being applied without prejudice ; no one is above the Law and no one should be favoured in any direct or indirect manner on the ground of his status.
       In the very same system the people are free to participate actively in politics and civil life, they are free to criticize their elected representatives and hold them accountable for their bad policies and their eccentric conducts in office. Everyone within our democratic constitution has the right to move freely, to have access to free education, and free health care and services, to work, to voice his or her opinions freely within the framework of the Law and without being harassed or arrested by the law enforcement authority.    
       Those in power must abide by the country's constitution, should not exert their position to extend their terms in office by means of unjustified reasons, must not indulge in corruption, bribery and favouritism ; and they must not forget that the people are sovereign and the highest form of authority in the Land.
       When we take a good look at the way the people are being served and taxed on one hand and the duties of our elected members towards the nation on the other hand, then make a comparison to what we see occurring in reality in our country nowadays, it's clear that we are living in an unfair system.    
       Since we achieved independence in 1968, successive governments and oppositions have not been able to sit back for a moment and ask themselves if our democratic system provides fairness to every citizen and satisfies the expectations of the people ; instead they have been busy working out on how to cling to power by means of coalitions and twisted ways.
       Let me elaborate on some of the facts showing how our democratic system we live in is unfair :
1) Property Tax (General Rate)
We all know that we have five towns which are ruled by five Municipalities ; we have rural areas which are under the administration of the District Councils and we also have “Cités” now called “Résidences” which are scattered over the island and are being looked after by Municipalities and District Councils. The citizens of the five towns, in accordance with section 74 of the Local Government Act 1989, have to pay property tax known as General Rate whereas the inhabitants of the rural districts and the “Résidences” do not pay a cent to the Local Government. The weird thing is that people living in rural areas and in “Cités” receive better services than those living in the urban regions. We also see how the Municipality of Beau Bassin / Rose Hill levies the highest form of property tax on its citizens when we compare it to the other four Municipalities.
      The National Residential Property Tax (NRPT) was introduced in the rural regions by the previous finance minister so that both the inhabitants of the urban and rural areas be treated on the same level as far as the tax collected by local Government is concerned, but just after the general elections in 2010 it was abolished by the present minister of finance. Was it for political gains ? The abolition was even criticized by some prominent economists who thought that the money collected through the NRPT could have been remitted to the District Councils.
2) Meritocracy
Meritocracy has become the famous word which keeps coming out of some ministers’mouths whenever they get a chance to lecture the people and we all know very well how in reality they are very reluctant when they have put it in practice. Take a good look at our public bodies, nearly all the directors and chairmen are political nominees and God knows if they are the right persons with the right qualifications and experiences to administer these key companies. Even our Prime Minister has recently found out that many of the public bodies are not performing as it should be and he has decided to take the bull by the horns. We don't lack intellectual and competent people in our society, with all the qualifications and experience required to take up these important jobs. Politicians have always lectured us on how to change our ways of living, how to be more responsible and how to depend on ourselves not on the State, while their own mindsets have not changed a iota and they still nurture the culture of “lev pake, nou bizin met nou dimounn parski zot finn kol nou lafis…” and it does not matter if “zot dimounn” do not have any qualification and experience to run important institutions and organizations. Apply for a decent and well-paid job in either the public sector or a private company, your chance of getting it is minimal if either (a) you are not related to a … who could say a word on your behalf or (b) you don't know anyone at the head of the company in which you are seeking employment or (c) you don't, as we say, “gress la patt” of someone who is going to interview you.
3) MBC, the one and only
MBC is the only national television station we have to put up with night and day, apart from foreign-satellite visual transmissions which are not within the reach of too many people, sadly.
Imagine if private radio stations and foreign-satellite visual transmissions were not in existence, we would have been living in a country dominated by government's propaganda ; the people would not be able to address some of their problems and most importantly would not have bothered themselves with any scandal when they happened in the government or in any parastatal body because they would not have heard of them from our national television.
    The MBC has been the tool of those in power. MBC television is part and parcel of people's life, it's a means to provide entertainment, to inform the public of anything good or bad happening in the country and most vital it should not be biased and let itself be manipulated by politicians who may believe that the MBC and other parastatal companies or institutions are their property.
    Every household, who is in possession of a television set, contributes Rs. 100 monthly to the running of the Corporation but in return the majority of the viewers may not be satisfied and this may be shown if a survey is conducted tomorrow. We need someone young and dynamic with new ideas and we also need private television stations, the sooner the better.