27 févr. 2012

INTERPELLATIONS CITOYENNES: Questions au Premier Ministre

INTERPELLATIONS CITOYENNES: Questions au Premier Ministre

« En politique, il faut toujours avoir un temps d'avance ». However, we are currently witnessing a lack of defiance and insistence from the opposition side of the government. Both Navin Ramgoolam and Paul Bérenger seem to be in hibernation mode and only emerge, once in a while, to talk about electoral reforms or alliances. The lengthy parliamentary holidays do not help either. The people have to wait around, while the elected members of parliament continue about their daily lives and only await the occasional, sensational news that the press bring to them regularly. There are also the lucky few who will have the privilege of expressing their views on social networking platforms.
Let us go back to the basics of politics. The Prime Minister is elected to defend the interests of the people, while the leader of the opposition is the alternative Prime Minister. The latter should aim to work for and in the interest of the people. Therefore, the leader of the opposition should be the one to criticise, dissect and bring about alternative solutions for the betterment of the country. The leader of the opposition should never be seen as an ally of the Prime Minister.
Sadly, Paul Bérenger, amidst all the talks on electoral reforms and alliance dreams, has forgotten and lost his sense of purpose. As a result, we, the people, have no choice but to do the job for him. Consequently, using social networking as a platform, we provide an alternative to the current opposition.
Under these current circumstances, the Club des Militants has become a platform where citizens have brought pertinent questions to the Prime Minister. L'alteropposition c'est le Club des Militants!
Below are some of the Questions put forward to the Prime Minister.
1. Le projet d'hôpital gériatrique: Le Premier ministre peut-il indiquer à la Nation où en est le projet de transformation de la clinique Medpoint en un hôpital gériatrique? Il est reconnu par vous-même que la Clinique Medpoint et ses équipements presque hors d'usage ont été achetés à un prix nettement exorbitant ? Mais est-ce que la transformation de la clinique en hôpital pour personnes âgées a eu lieu, indépendamment du volet de corruption alléguée dans cette affaire ?
2. Amendment to Criminal Code Act: In August 2011, the office of the Attorney General proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code Act to accommodate legal termination of pregnancies for up to 24 weeks. The death of a woman on Christmas day 2011, after she swallowed pills to terminate an unwanted pregnancy pushes the need to have such amendment in place. Can the Prime Minister confirm that the office of the Attorney General is on board with this issue and we will soon hear of a change in the Criminal Code Act?
3. Agalega et l'Inde : Le Premier Ministre peut-il indiquer à la Nation les termes d'un éventuel nouveau traité sur les relations fiscales entre Maurice et l'Inde que les îles d'Agalega n'ont pas été l'objet d'une cession à l'Inde sous quelque forme que ce soit ?
4. Tertiary Education: In the past few months, we have experienced a jolt within the University of Mauritius, with the Chancellor resigning; there have also been views expressed on scrapping undergraduate courses such as political sciences from the curriculum. Does the Prime Minister approve of such atrocities ?
5. Enfants en situation de rue : Selon plusieurs groupes de presse et l'association SAFIRE, il y aurait plus de 6700 enfants en situation de rue. Le Premier ministre peut-il confirmer ces chiffres à la Nation et indiquer quelles mesures urgentes compte prendre son Gouvernement afin de venir en aide à ces enfants et faire place à leur intégration sociale ?
- Supplementary Question: The ombudsperson for child protection has been introduced in 2004 to "promote the rights and best interests of children" and "make proposals to the Minister on legislation, policies and practices regarding services to, or the rights of, children. Will the PM state what actions and measures have been taken following reports, in-depth proposals submitted by the OCP for the welfare of our children?
- Supplementary Question: Since 2005 we have seen many cases of child delinquency and sex crimes all directly involving street children. Will the honourable PM and his government consider the idea of "educateurs de la rue" that was implemented by Minister Lauthan before 2005 and was fanatically thrown away by the new regime of 2005?
6. Le nombre de ministères et portefeuilles qu'il exerce?
Le Premier ministre peut-il indiquer à la Nation le nombre de portefeuilles ministériels qu'il exerce en titre, après le retrait du député Von Mally du ministère de Rodrigues, et dans les faits en raison de l'absence du Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances à la délégation qui s'est rendue en Inde en vue de la renégociation du traité du non-double imposition fiscale ? Le Premier ministre exerce-t-il, outre la primature, les portefeuilles de l'intérieur, de la défense, des communications extérieures et de Rodrigues ? Exerce-t-il également des compétences exclusives en matière électorale, de citoyenneté, d'état civil, de services d'information du Gouvernement, de services météorologiques, de droits de l'Homme, et d'océanographie ?
7. La gestion de la distribution d'eau : Le Premier Ministre peut-il indiquer à la Nation les mesures concrètes prises pour résoudre la gestion défaillante de la distribution d'eau à nos concitoyens alors qu'il pleut abondamment, et ce de manière régulière ?
8. La violation de la démocratie locale: Le Premier Ministre peut-il indiquer jusqu'à quand compte-t-il priver les citoyens mauriciens de la tenue des élections locales ? N'est-ce pas une violation de la démocratie en renvoyant d'année en année les élections locales ?
9. Electoral Reform: In line with the on-going debates on electoral reforms and with the recent submission of proposals from Prof Carcassonne, constitutional expert, under the PM's request and another paper consequently submitted by Dr Rama Sithanen, will he state, for the benefit of the nation at large, whether he will come forward with an electoral reform bill for open debate and vote in national assembly with the introduction of proportional representation?
10. Air Mauritius damage recovery: With the global economic crisis, rising prices of Jet Fuel and instability around Euro/dollar price volatility, most of the international airlines will suffer financial consequences, our national airline is also at high-risk in the short term having been hit already by the hedging issue, other than flight restraints over some destinations, will the PM state if a damage recovery task force meeting has been set up by the "conseil d'administration" of Air Mauritius to address the current alarming situation ? If yes what economic measures have been short-listed to solve a loss of Rs 848 M over the last 9 months period ending 31 Dec 2011? Will a restructuring of the personnel, benefits and other flight allowances be taken into account? What is the process and policy around resources promotion exercise and wages increase?
In the hope that those questions will give some inspiration to members of parliament until the much awaited “rentrée parlementaire” in March.

(http://www.facebook.com/groups/clubdesmilitants/)