It is very likely that this Tuesday the Finance bill will be voted in Parliament. Indeed, there are only two speakers left on this bill according to the list that was circulated in Parliament yesterday. These are the Deputy Prime Minister, Steve Obeegadoo and the Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, before the Finance Minister, Renganaden Padayachy makes his summing-up.
Yesterday evening, it was the DPM that proposed the adjournment of the parliamentary proceedings after the MP of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), Aadil Ameer Meea, made his intervention. This one was marked however by a remark of the Minister of Gender Equality, Kalpana Koonjoo-Shah, at the time when the deputy described as injustice to oblige people of the bottom of the scale to fill their tax forms electronically. For her, the MP is “misleading the house”, because the country did not have this problem when the government came forward last time with the Self-Employed Scheme. The speaker of the National Assembly, Soorojdev Phokeer, had to intervene to stop the exchange.
Resuming his speech, the MP had to point out that the little people will remember the minister when they have difficulties to fill in the tax forms electronically. For the MMM deputy, if the minister wants to intervene, she has put her name on the list of speakers and not to disturb him when he intervenes on this bill.
Several speakers intervened on this bill yesterday. Among them were MPs Mahend Gungaparsad, Franco Quirin, Rajesh Bhagwan, Joanna Berenger, J.B Leopold, Farad Aumeer and ministers Soodesh Callichurn, Joe Lesjongard, Bobby Hurreeram and Sudheer Maudhoo. The parliamentary proceedings were adjourned until next Tuesday.
