It would be quite pointless giving an opinion on Ramgoolams incredibly ill conceived speech at the Doha Academy as almost everyone, apart from the usual zombies, have condemned it as completely inappropriate and vulgar in the context of a religious festival. I prefer to commend the speech as it shed some light in the incredibly dense jungle known as the pay and conditions of service of our Head of State, the President. The Presidents salary and other benefits come under the Presidents Emoluments and Pension Act of 1992, passed largely as a result of another one of Berengers flights of fantasy regarding what constitutes a real republic based on the democratic principles of accountability. This Act, which turned us into a Republic, achieved only one thing: instead of having a governor general, we will now have a President who, invariably, happens to be a friend of the Prime Minister of the day and who will now live rent free in a gorgeous palace set in idyllic gardens on a salary and expenses of such stupendous proportions which defy all economic sense and moral rectitude in a country where over 100,000 of its citizens live on less than Rs 6,000 a month. And all tax free, if you dont mind, even though the Queen herself has been paying income tax for years now. Well done, Berenger! Cant wait for the country phare that will emerge as a result of your 2nd republic that will, again, do nothing in terms of accountability and open government in a free democracy. So, Ramgoolam nearly burst a blood vessel when he told us that SAJ receives a combined pension of nearly Rs 4 millions a year. He is of course right to inform us of this hitherto well concealed aspect of the remuneration for life of our presidents and vice presidents. But it was hideously opportunistic on his part to target only SAJ as an ex President with a hugely overgenerous pension benefit. He should also have told us that Cassam Uteem receives a combined pension of ex President and ex minister/deputy that is not that far off what SAJ receives. But of course the rules of that nonsense known as scientific communalism peddled by his friend and Riverwalk neighbour, that well known expert in everything but master of very little, Berenger, dictate that at a gathering for our Muslim citizens celebrating a religious festival, you never mention anything that is even remotely critical of any Muslim. But he could have mentioned Karl Offman who was President for less than 2 years and who will now benefit from a luxurious pension and allowances for life, all of course courtesy of the ever obliging taxpayer; or Raouf Bundhun, he of something called Democracy Watch, who must be drawing close to Rs200,000 as pension tax free for life as well as other allowances; or the spouses of dead Presidents and dead Vice Presidents who also receive an amazing pension for life (tears are welling up in my eyes now as the poor pets receive the 2/3 pensions of their departed husbands/wives for only the first year and then receive only half their pensions and allowances for life..). So, you see FB friends, our first republic as designed by the great Berenger achieved only one thing: a life of luxury for the friends of our Prime Ministers until the day they die. Here is what some of their entitlements are under the 1992 Act: ...there shall be paid to every retiring President or every retiring Vice President a monthly pension equivalent to TWO THIRDS of their monthly emoluments FOR THE REMAINDER OF HIS LIFE...A retiring President or Vice President shall, FOR THE REMAINDER OF HIS LIFE, be entitled to a/ the service of a clerk/typist and office attendant at government costs and b/ a government motor car with chauffeur. Plus permanent police bodyguards, etc...Nice job if you can get it, eh? But what really sticks in the craw is the sight of Ramgoolam bleating on and on about SAJs pension when he himself has been PM for nearly 10 years (15 if we include his 1995-2000 term) and when he could have done something about it. Let me remind him of the last section of this very short 1992 Act which says The Prime Minister may make such regulations as he deems fit for the purposes of this Act. So, if these pensions and allowances are as reprehensible (which they are) as he claimed at the Doha Academy, why has he sat on his arse and done nothing about them in the 15 years he has been PM? I think that Ramgoolam is suffering from a terminal case of Berengeritis (a local illness in Mauritius where the inflammation of the tongue compels the owner to talk crap all day long), and the sooner he gets back to campaigning in his old style, the better. Otherwise, he can kiss good bye to 60-0, 3/4 majority, and will be lucky to see the election of very few of his candidates as MLAs.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:28:46 +0000
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