Members of our National Assembly are returning to Parliament this week. Three Labour Party MPs, Shakeel Mohamed, Patrick Assirvaden and Mahend Gungapersad will not be present for the return to Parliament on Tuesday.
The Chief Whip, Naveena Ramyad, as well as all the members of the majority, are serene for this second part of the parliamentary work of this year. She hopes that the decorum of the House will be respected and that everyone will play their role as parliamentarians. The Whip of the Opposition, Patrice Armance, also hopes that there will be healthy debates.
With statistics compiled by Opposition Whip Patrice Armance revealing 103 Unanswered Parliamentary Questions on behalf of Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, all bets are off for Tuesday’s sitting. Of the 16 questions for the Prime Minister’s Question Time slot, the Prime Minister is sure to answer the first one proposed by Labour leader Arvin Boolell. Will the exchanges on this subject allow the next PQ to be taken up on the agenda? It’s hard to say, it is understood in informed circles in the National Assembly. The Order Paper includes 79 PQs in all.
As for the unanswered questions, Naveena Ramyad says that ministers should not be blamed. “There is a way to answer verbally and another way in writing. I know the mechanics. Often, ministers are in possession of some answers in case of additional questions and since the questions are not asked, they cannot table everything.” However, in some cases, she puts the blame on administrative procedures.
The draw has favored Arvin Boolell, the PTr leader in questions to the Prime Minister, who will have to say whether concessions have been made for oil exploration in Mauritius’ exclusive economic zone. He will seek to know who are those who have expressed interest in undertaking these surveys. And if so, the PTr MP will want to know which companies are involved. The Prime Minister may have to answer a question from Rajesh Bhagwan about his advisor, Dev Bheekarry. The MMM MP wants to know everything about this advisor, including his salary, allowances, the number of boards he sits on and the allowances he receives.
Reza Uteem will address the first question to the Minister of Financial Services, Mahen Seeruttun. His question concerns Alvaro Sobrinho. He wants to know everything about the investigations initiated and the licenses he obtained.
Ehsan Juman will ask Minister Joe Lesjongard for explanations on this subject. Osman Mahomed will question the same Minister about the sewerage project in Grand-Bay. After a question from Kushal Lobine on the bilateral agreements between Seychelles and Mauritius in the field of fisheries, Farhad Aumeer will address a question to the Minister of Health, Kailesh Jagutpal, on the vaccines against Covid.
Joanna Berenger (MMM) will ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, to explain why the Special Education Needs Authority was not informed of the recruitment of the speech therapist. Joanne Tour will be the first government backbencher to question a minister. Her question is addressed to Bobby Hurreeram on the landslide in Creve Coeur.
Stéphanie Anquetil (PTr) is interested in the background of the investigation initiated on the leak of the intimate recordings of Doomila Moheeputh, the companion of Me Akil Bissessur, but it is very unlikely that the Head of Government will have time to answer on this subject in his 30 minutes allocated for the PMQT.
