The leaders of the L’Espoir platform faced the press on Saturday morning. One of the issues discussed was the alleged scandal of the purchase of Molnupiravir by the government from a person close to the government. This morning, Xavier-Luc Duval spoke of a “clumsy attempt of cover-up” by the Minister Kailesh Jagutpal in Parliament yesterday. He reiterated that according to the Standing Orders, he had no right to intervene in this way.
Xavier-Luc Duval also referred to a Precautionary Measure that a doctor in the Ministry of Health had recorded against him. “I invite him to go ahead. I recall that as leader of the opposition, I am paid to shed light on the scandals of the country,” he said. Xavier-Luc Duval insisted that the whole exercise is illegal. “The way it was done is illegal. According to the provisions of the tender, the government should have contacted the supplier chosen first. It is illegal the way the company was chosen. It is illegal how many tablets, a generic, this company was allowed to import,” he said.
This is why, according to Xavier-Luc Duval, it is essential to institute a Select Committee… not only on this case but on all purchases of drugs and other health devices in the pandemic.
“A very sad day for parliamentary democracy,” says Berenger
This is unprecedented in Parliament, the MMM leader says. He was present at a press conference of the L’Espoir platform this morning. He says it is a “very bad day for parliamentary democracy in Mauritius”. He says it is unprecedented that the Speaker, “who is worse than ever”, has allowed a Minister to come in Statement Time and answer questions raised during the Private Notice Question. Paul Bérenger recalled that the Statement Time slot cannot be used for controversial issues. “It is just for questions of government policy,” he said.
For him, there is a majority and an infamous Prime Minister who are “pettier and more arrogant than ever”.
For the MMM leader, it is a “huge scandal of Rs 70 million”. Paul Berenger insists that the opposition will not give up. He says that since the pandemic, there have been “scandal after scandal”. He accuses the government of having “stolen money on the back of a people who are suffering”.
Nadho Badha did speak about IBA and also about what is going in the education sector.
