The Secretary General of the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM), Mr Nando Bodha, said yesterday the party was “shocked” by the insulting comment made on a private radio station by the Leader of the Opposition Paul Berenger against the leader of the MSM, Mr Pravind Jugnauth.
Mr Berenger, who is also leader of the MMM, qualified Mr Jugnauth as “ti cretin” (the small stupid one) simply because the latter was present at a private dinner hosted by the President of the Republic.
“The MSM is shocked, hurt, revolted and angered by the comments made this morning (Wednesday) on a private radio by Paul Berenger against Pravind Jugnauth and the MSM. It is a real insult”, said Mr. Bodha.
“Berenger has a systematic agenda to denigrate Pravind Jugnauth and to destabilise the MSM.”
Mr Bodha was speaking at a press conference, accompanied by all the MSM MPs apart from the leader, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, at the party headquarters at the Sun Trust Building in Port Louis.
“It is not a secret for anyone that Berenger uses all sorts of names to denigrate his political opponents according to his own political agenda.
The days of slavery when the colonisers could use all sorts of name to belittle whoever they wanted are over. This epoch is over.
“On Monday we celebrated the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and two days later we cannot accept such comments,” said Mr Bodha.
The secretary general of the MSM thought that Mr Berenger had purposely chosen to use the term because the leader of the MSM was present at a lunch organised by the President of the Republic, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, on Tuesday.
“We denounce this colonial attitude of using all sorts of names to insult opponents. This does not befit a former prime minister, a leader of the opposition and a political leader of his calibre,” he said.
Mr Bodha recalled that in 2003 when Mr Pravind Jugnauth was instrumental in Mr Berenger’s appointment as Prime Minister, the latter referred to him as “ti frere” (younger brother). “Today Pravind Jugnauth has become the ‘ti cretin’.
Berenger now says that it is because of Pravind Jugnauth that a new alliance between the MSM and the MMM cannot go ahead. Yet in 2005 Berenger had presented Pravind Jugnauth as his successor to the post of prime minister.
“In the past, Berenger had termed Dr Dinesh Ramjuttun as ‘Pak Pak’, Mr Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo as ‘razoir’ (razor), Mr Madan Dulloo as ‘pagla mamou’ (mad maternal uncle), Mr Anil Bachoo as being ‘intellectually limited’ and Mr Harish Boodhoo as ‘Mahatma zougadere’ (the Mahatma gambler).
“At the National Assembly Berenger did not hesitate to ask MP Miss Nita Deerpalsing to ‘alle rode ene mari’ (go and look for a husband). He criticised the hair style of his good friend the Minister of Finance, Mr Rama Sithanen.
He told Sithanen that his hair looked like ‘la queue chatte’ (the tail of a cat). The same Paul Berenger termed Mr Ashock Jugnauth as ‘gros feuille’ (big leaf, meaning a rough person hailing usually from the rural areas).”
The secretary general of the MSM also roundly criticised the leader of the MMM for his absence from the Teledon –Solidarity with Haiti. “He chose to settle his political scores with the government by being absent. “We leave it to the people to judge Mr Berenger’s attitude.
He is trying to destroy the future of Pravind Jugnauth. Why? It is clear that there is panic within the MMM. The ‘militants’ of the MMM are leaving the party because they refuse to go to the slaughterhouse,” said Mr Bodha.
In October last year Mr Jugnauth clearly stated that Mr Berenger and the MMM are to be his main opponents at the forthcoming general elections. “After the insulting comments from Berenger, we are more than determined to struggle against the MMM but we will never fall so low like him,” said Mr Bodha.
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