Today’s joke comes from the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday at the opening of the new headquarters of the Mauritius Freemasons Bar Association. [Editors note: I am feeling a bit like a middle aged DJ this week, nostalgically dusting off his favourite releases from the 90s. On Monday it was Vision 2020, yesterday the light railway and today…]
“In his report, Lord Mackay had suggested a reform of the judiciary system,” recalled the prime minister, who explained how he managed to convince Lord Mackay to chair the committee that looked into the judicial system in Mauritius and thereafter prepared a report.
“The Mackay Report is a wonderful piece of work and the most far-reaching report ever made on the Judiciary,” said Dr Ramgoolam.
When was the Mackay Report published? 1998! How much has been done? In the words of the Chief Justice: “A few reforms that need to be implemented figure prominently in the Government Programme 2010-2015.” What about the rest? What about the recommendations for judicial reforms by Sachs Commission in 2001 and the EISA Report in 2008? Didn’t they make recommendations for electoral reforms as well, such as regulating political parties?
It seems that the new government has quite a lot more reading to do to get up to speed. Just a second, didn’t we just re-elect the old government? The title is a quote from W. Fusselman. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader”…perhaps Navin still has time…
Hats off, by the way, to the News Now journalist who managed to hear Sir Hamid (the Jabber) Moolan whisper his a favourite pun: “I hope there will soon be a bar [in the Bar].” Of course this did not go down well with the benevolent Dawood Rawat who “provided considerable assistance” in setting up the HQ. Apparently he is a donor to Alcoholics Anonymous (Mauritius). [Editor’s note: we found it impossible to verify this information as all donations are, of course, anonymous!]