Mauritius Media at a Glance: 19 July 2007

19.07.2007

Recently at a function in Triolet, extensively covered by the MBC main news bulletin, the Prime Minister laid into the Week-End newspaper for having speculated about a ministerial re-shuffle. Now it's the turn of the Editor-in-Chief of the L'Express daily to recommend, in his 19 July editorial, a series of cabinet changes, for the attention of the Prime Minister. It will be interesting to see whether at the next socio-cultural event, the Prime Minister takes to task the newspaper of the Chairman of the Empowerment Fund.



What in fact did the L'Express editorial propose? The two ministers that are targeted for demotion are Sinatambou and Jeetah: the first one for being in the PM's and his adviser Jean Suzanne's bad books, and his poor performance in the field of ICT development; and the second for the fiasco of the Amul episode and the closing down of Desbro.



L'Express readers will remember how recently the same Chief-Editor recommended the importation of cheaper substitutes to deal with mounting inflation, and Amul was very much such an attempt, albeit a clumsy one. If the L'Express newspaper had bothered to cover properly the Desbro case at the Termination of Contract and Services Board, the Editor would perhaps have a different view as to the real causes of the Desbro closure. As for Minister Sinatambou's performance in ICT development, perhaps the L'Express Chief-Editor should ask his journalists to carry out an in-depth investigation in the East/West conflicts and the vested interests that have paralyzed the development of the ICT sector.



Not content with wiping out ministers Sinatambou and Jeetah, the Chief-Editor then proceeds to suggest a few ambitious back-benchers for ministerial functions: N.Deerpalsing, S.Dayal, and L.Bundhoo.



The PM will no doubt be grateful for these free (even if unsolicited) suggestions from the Chief-Editor of the L'Express, acting in his other role as special political adviser.



RS