I recall rumours about the so-called "Macarena" VHS that contributed to the fall of the Labour Party in 2000. I don't know whether the VHS existed or not but it's mere mention was enough to get people murmur.

During the 2014 General Elections, the "Viré Mam" video clip made people not just laugh but also changed a lot minds in favour of the then Lepep Alliance. The video clip was made from short edits from various political meetings featuring P. R. Bérenger, Leader of the MMM Party and Dr. N. C. Ramgoolam, Leader of the Labour Party, who back then formed the PTR/MMM alliance. The video was edited in such a way that it appeared both party leaders were slurring at each other in a synchronous manner and the groovy background music only made it funnier.

This year, two days after the General Elections, one that many thought to be a tough battle among three major political parties in Mauritius, a friend sent me a video clip of Dr. N. C. Ramgoolam speaking at a political meeting. The clip appears to have been carefully edited to give the impression that the Labour Party leader is saying that Hindus living in the rural areas adore money and that when they're dying, a bank note needs to be put in a "katori" (i.e copper, brass or stainless steel cup) of water and the same given to drink to the dying person for the soul to be able to leave the body. This propaganda video worked. A day before the elections and on the election day I heard about the circulation of this "Katori" clip that is supposedly offending Hindus.

While the "Viré Mam" clip could be regarded as parody, the "Katori" clip on the other hand is not. The title of the video says that the Labour Party leader is insulting Hindus and thus the creator of this video clip incites communal unrest. This whole thing could have legal implications.

The Labour Party for the past few weeks appeared to have led a successful campaign on the Internet through Google, YouTube and Facebook ads. Most of them were messages of Dr. N. C. Ramgoolam while some of the ads were interesting facts explaining about the economy, national debt and our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

However, it seems that the party was not ready to tackle propaganda.

Thus, "Katori" clip wins and Dr. N. C. Ramgoolam could not win a seat to be in the National Assembly of Mauritius.

This blog post is not an endorsement of the Labour Party but simply an analysis of how propaganda videos affect election results.

At this stage I thought I should check their Electoral Manisfesto of 2014 to see where do they stand on their promises.

One particular area I am interested in is Good Governance. I am looking for what happened to the promised Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to be more precise.

Page 22 of L'Alliance Lepep's Electoral Manifesto of 2014 talks about Good Governance. Item number three reads as follows:

Yes, they promised a Freedom of Information Act to guarantee transparency. A counter was subsequently published by lexpress.mu which now shows that it's been 1779 days since L'Alliance Lepep formed a government and yet there is no sign of FOIA.

I attended two workshops on the subject of FOIA, one organized by the U.S Embassy in 2015 and another by the Mauritius Council of Social Service (MACOSS) in early 2016.

I never received an invitation to participate in any FOIA related workshop by government led initiatives (if they happened in the last five years).

Five years and freedom of information is not guaranteed.

Among the ten items on Good Governance in the Electoral Manisfesto of 2014 key ones have not been fulfilled. Item number four talks about freedom of opinion and that citizens would be free to attend public gatherings, participate in pacific protests, etc.

However, the outgoing government only made the ICT Act more stringent and confusing that the citizens of Mauritius somehow lost their "freedom of expression" on the Internet. Find more about that in the following articles:

Against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights?
ICT Act: Yatin Varma dépose une plainte en Cour suprême
Clause 46 de l’ICT Act: «Une épée de Damoclès plane sur la population»
Maurice: RSF condamne un durcissement de la législation sur les contenus en ligne
A clear violation of the right to freedom of expression

Lastly, regarding the freedom to attend public gatherings or participate in pacific protests, can we forget the harsh treatment of Rastafaris in 2016?

Image source: lemauricien.com

Several people were arrested and some were brutalised by the police.