PARLEMENT POPULAIRE lis Stroot - Rose-Hil Republic of Mauritius Mail: parlementpopulaire@ gmail.com / Tel. $707 11 97 12 February 2016 OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS To, ‘The Right Honourable Sir Anerood Jugnauth Prime Minister of Mauritius Prime Minister Office Government House - Port-Louis Copy to: - Her Excellency Dr. (Mrs) Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius - The Honourable Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Luc Duval ~The Honourable Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius Ivan Collendavelloo - The Honourable Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius and Minister of Housing and Lands Showkutally Soodhun - The Honourable Paul Raymond Bérenger, Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Mauritius RE: Citizen's concern about the mention of a title of “Minister of islamic Affairs and Hajj of Mauritius” in the press of Gulf countries. Right Honourable Prime Minister, ‘The Parlement Populaire is showing great concern about the fact that on various international online press websites of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, including official press agencies, the Honourable Shawkutally Soodhun has been presented during his official visits to these countries as the "Mauritius Deputy Premier” and “Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj” of the Republic of Mauritius Annexure 1: “Mauritius deputy premier, minister of housing and lands, and minister of Islamic affairs and hajj” in “Saudi FM Meets Mauritius Deputy Premier”, Qatar News Agency, Jan 28, 2016 [http:/ /www.qna.org.qa/en-us/News/16012816170060 /Saudi-FM-Meets- Mauritius-Deputy-Premier accessed 11.02.2016] ‘Annexure 2: “Deputy Premier, Minister of Housing and Lands, and Mi Affairs and Hajj in the Republic of Mauritius, Showkutally Soodhun” Receives Mauritius Deputy Premier’, Alriyadh Newspaper, Jan 29, 2016 [http:/ /wwwalriyach.com/en/article/1123838/Foreign- Minister-Receives-Mauritius Deputy-Premier accessed 11.02.2016] ister of Islamic “Foreigh Minister ‘Annexure 3: “the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Lands of Mauritius, who is also Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj of the Republic of Mauritius Shawkat Soodhun’, in “Deputy Crown Prince meets with Deputy Premier of Mauritius”, ekhbariyainet, Jan 30, 2016 [http:/ /alekhbariya net/en/node/4916 accessed 11.02.2016} Parlement Populaire was born in March 208 fom a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debate and discussions regarding bil and other topics of general intrest. Parlement Populaire isa deliberative platform open al, without distinction. The ‘proposals are sent othe Government andthe Members ofthe National Assembly and tothe Press a welPARLEMENT POPULAIRE lis Stroot - Rose-Hil Republic of Mauritius Mail: parlementpopulaire@ gmail.com / Tel. $707 11 97 Annexure 4: “the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Lands of Mauritius, who is, also Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj of the Republic of Mauritius Shawkat Soodhun” in "Deputy Crown Prince meets with Deputy Premier of Mauritius" Saudi Press Agency Jan 31, 2016 [http:/ /www.spa.gov-sa//viewstory.php?lang=en&enewsid=1461325 accessed 11.02.2016} Annexure 5: “the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Lands of Mauritius, who is also Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj of the Republic of Mauritius Shawkat Soodhun” in ‘Deputy Crown Prince meets with Deputy Premier of Mauritius”, Alriyadh Newspaper, Feb 01, 2016 fhttp://wwwalriyadh.com en/article/1124726/Deputy-Crown-Prince-meets-with- Deputy-Premier-of Mauritius accessed 11.02.2016] ‘Annexure 6: “Vice-Prime Minister of Mauritius” and “also minister of housing and Islamic affairs” in “Mauritius backs Kingdom's tough action against Iran”, Saudi Gazette, Feb 10, 2016 [http:/ /saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/mauritius-backs-kingdoms-tough-action-against- iran accessed 11.02.2016] It has to be noted that, according to the National List of Precedence of the Republic of Mauritius (Annexure 7) a) The Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius actually is Xavier Luc Duval b) The Hon, Shawkutally Soodhun is one of two Vice Prime Ministers of Mauritius It also has to be noted that, according the Government Directory (Annexures 8 and 9) 4) The Hon, Shawkutally Soodhun is “Vice-Prime Minister” and “Minister of Housing and Lands as shown in his credentials on government website [http:/ /housing govmu.org/English/AboutUs/Pages/The-Minister.aspx accessed 11.02.2016] b) There is NO MENTION whatsoever of any “Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Hajj” nor of “Deputy Premier” among the attribution of the Hon. Shawkutally Soodhun, ) There is no “Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Hajj” in the Government Directory of Mauritius. ‘Asa consequence, the titles of “Deputy Premier” and of “Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj” appearing in the above mentioned press reports and official agencies communiqués cannot be considered as ‘merely coincidental or fluke. It is most obvious that those press agencies have only reproduced credentials which were officially communicated to them. ‘This is of utmost concern to the Parlement Populaire, as this situation might well be perceived as a case of usurpation of official functions. It is understandable that, for practical reasons, responsibility of Islamic affairs and Hajj can be attributed to a minister. But there isa huge difference between being the Minister of Housing and Lands responsible for Islamic affairs and Hajj and being the “Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj”. The Parlement Populaire is deeply concerned with the possible implications in terms of diplomacy, national security, geopolitics and even with regard to the essence ofthe secular State. Parlement Populaire was born in March 208 fom a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debate and discussions regarding bil and other topics of general intrest. Parlement Populaire isa deliberative platform open al, without distinction. The ‘proposals are sent othe Government andthe Members ofthe National Assembly and tothe Press a welPARLEMENT POPULAIRE lis Stroot - Rose-Hil Republic of Mauritius ‘Mail: parlementpopulaire@gmail.com / Tel. 5707 11 97 ‘This is why the Parlement Populaire is requesting clarifications regarding the following questions: 1. Whether a Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Hajj officially exists in Mauritius? If yes, when was that ministry set up ? 2- Whether the denomination of “ Minister of Islamic Affairs and Haj” is in accordance with the official denominations of ministries in the Mauritian Government? If yes, when was this made official ? 3- Whether the use of a denomination such as “Minister of Islamic Affairs and/or Hajj” can be allowed within the notion of secular state in the Republic of Mauritius in 2016? 4- Whether an official corrigendum was sent to the above mentioned agencies and press rooms in order to correct the wrongly used denominations? If yes, when was this done? If no, why was thi not done? Looking forward to your prompt reply. Respectfully, Dr (Mrs) Catherine Boudet, M. Bruno Savrimootoo, M. Alain Bertrand p/o Parlement Populaire Parlement Populaire was born in March 208 fom a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debate and discussions regarding bil and other topics of general intrest. Parlement Populaire isa deliberative platform open al, without distinction. The ‘proposals are sent othe Government andthe Members ofthe National Assembly and tothe Press a wel