Chetan Ramchurn
« Sans l’autorité d’un seul, il y aurait la lumière,
il y aurait la vérité, il y aurait la justice.
L’autorité d’un seul, c’est un crime. »
(Louise Michel)
Leeches from the dreadful ruling and lacklustre opposing factions are perennially trying to grab our attention with arguments often ranging from the demagogical to the farcical. Amidst all the noise, citizens are sidetracked from how crippled our institutions have become and how weakened our democracy is. The state of our democratic foundations is never properly delved into and why would our mainstream parties do so? Some have been bending our institutions to their advantage since 2014 while others have indulged in the comfort of how malleable our government bodies are prior to that. At the heart of this rot is populism. While some active citizens have highlighted the festering of our democratic ideals, not many have addressed how we can rid our Motherland of it. 
Lacan says that “Ce qui n’est pas nommé n’existe pas”; that which is not named does not exist. This is why it is important to put a name on the virus that has taken hold of our country. Populism has its imprint on the ravages that our country has witnessed over the years. Morality seems to have been bartered for freebies and gains and part of our electorate is happy auctioning itself to the highest bidder. We cannot blame people who welcome an increase in old age pension or the inception of a minimum wage since they contribute to uplift their standard of living. But that they do not wake up to the widespread moral decay and litany of scandals is worrying. The recent proposing of air tickets to senior citizens should not surprise us since we seem to be stuck in a bidding war. Snatching power from the clutches from the present regime is far from being that easy though. The opposition needs to go back to the drawing board if it wants to oust the much maligned.
Sitting ducks
There is a pertinent fable of the frog that Fabrice Arfi of Mediapart uses to explain how immune his countrymen have become to corruption. He avers that if you place a frog in boiling water, it gets out immediately since it cannot bear the heat. Instead of doing so, if you put the frog in moderately warm water and keep increasing the heat, it remains in the water despite the dangers to its life. Arfi uses it to emphasize the dangers of acclimatising with what can kill us («On s’habitue à ce qui peut nous tuer.»). While not amphibians, Mauritians might be closer to the Anatidae family. We are sitting ducks.
Populism demystified
A populist is described as a figure that “gradually erodes and then eviscerates democratic norms and checks and balances”, one that is intent on “reducing democracy to a hollow shell of majoritarian domination” (as evidenced in Mauritius, this can materialise even with 37.68% of voters). Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Larry Diamond explains how populists work;
“Once they have levelled these sources of scrutiny and restraint, the populists’ final step is to take effective control of electoral administration, so that even the purely democratic aspect of the system is degraded and their re-election largely assured.”
Diamond outlines viable cures to populism. The most salient ones are summarised in this piece.
“ Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.” [The Art of War, Sun Tzu]
- Out-polarising, or as in the Mauritian case, outbidding the populist in terms of program simply means agreeing to fight on the incumbent’s chosen battleground. Diamond also cautions against a campaign based on ‘strident denunciation’ of the populist for this will mobilise his/her base and keep potential sway voters away. The scandals since 2014 are myriad and the easiest manoeuvre for the opposition would seem to focus on them, Diamond calls for an elevation of the debates so that the narrative is built around the vision of a better future.
“the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.”[The Art of War, Sun Tzu]
- Craft an inclusive campaign that reaches out those in the populist’s electorate who find chinks in the populist’s armour and captures the widest possible electorate. Professor Diamond advocates that former supporters of the populist should not be ostracised and their positive leanings; the better angels of their nature appealed to.
“Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.”[The Art of War, Sun Tzu]
- Do not join the pig in the mud. Aping the populists’ verbiage which is infused with pettiness and character assassination further departs the opposition from the moral high ground it has to occupy. Diamond avers that by engaging in ‘tit-for-tat rhetorical slugfests’, those opposing him ‘descend to his moral level’ and ultimately ‘look smaller’.
“in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.” [The Art of War, Sun Tzu]
- Counter the demagogue’s nefarious rhetoric and politics with humility, empathy and love. Diamond draws from the opposition’s 2019 municipal campaign in Turkey built on ‘radical love’. The mayoral election of Istanbul was annulled following strong lobbying from forces close to those in power. In a statement following the overturning of the election, Ekrem İmamoğglu averred,
“In our squares there is love. They will want conflict from us, they will want to hear harsh words from us. But we, the people who do not want this nation to fight, who want this nation to embrace, we will unrelentingly embrace each other.”
İmamoğglu would win the mayoral re-election by a margin of 800,000 votes.
“When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.” [The Art of War, Sun Tzu]
- Build a campaign on positive values of honesty, cooperation and equality. One that adopts the serious treatment of issues and identifies and exploits the misses and weaknesses of the incumbent administration. Diamond advocates offering“substantive, practical, non-ideological policy proposals that not only rally the political opposition but also induce some supporters of the populist to defect to a broad-based campaign for the future”.
Atomised
The atomisation of our society means that we are rarely able to embark up on common pursuits. Even when we come together, the masses are ultimately not the ones benefiting from our unity. Massive protests in the wake of the Wakashio oil spill seem to have accelerated the inception of the MIC to the glee of the oligarchs. We need to unite but we need to agree on the goals that we are fighting for. Otherwise our fights will be diverted from their intended goals.
More democracy to counter populism
Had opposition parties been more progressive, they would have paved the way for participatory and deliberative platforms where issues would be debated and more people invited to have a say in the country’s affairs. Cas Mudde in his work on populism also preaches for the regulation of social media where trolls prey upon any criticism against their benefactors and prevent the creation of pluralistic, fact-based and hate free platforms so crucial in a thriving democracy.
Power from them to the people
Too much power to political parties and their leaders have created this conundrum. What needs to be done more than ever is the empowering of citizens with the ability to recall elections and sanction their MPs and ministers who act immorally.
There is no secret to how a better Mauritius can be built. If we, as citizens and electors, are resolute in our attachment to integrity and honesty, we will have kindred souls representing us.
We have to be unwavering in our principles.
Everything starts with us.
References:
Une Démocratie Corrompue Reste-t-elle une démocratie ?, La Métaphore de la Grenouille : Accessed on 07.01.2023 at https://youtu.be/VC0Nnf_lyXs?t=1265
How to beat a populist ? by Larry Diamond. Accessed in January 2023 at
https://www.the-american-interest.com/2020/02/20/how-to-beat-a-populist/
How to Defeat Populism: Three Lessons from Slovakia. Accessed in January 2023 at https://items.ssrc.org/democracy-papers/how-to-defeat-populism-three-lessons-from-slovakia/
How can liberals defeat populism? Here are four ideas by Cas Mudde. Accessed in January 2023 at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/13/liberals-populism-world-forum-democracy-5-ideas
The Pushback Against Populism: Running on “Radical Love”, Journal of Democracy in Turkey by F. Michael Wuthrich & Melvyn Ingleby, April 2020. Accessed in January 2023 at https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the-pushback-against-populism-running-on-radical-love-in-turkey/