PARLEMENT POPULAIRE

Elias Street Rose-Hill

Republic of Mauritius
Mail : parlementpopulaire@gmail.com / Tel. 5 707 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 Brenger, Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Mauritius
RE: Citizens 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-MeetsMauritius-Deputy-Premier accessed 11.02.2016]
Annexure 2: Deputy Premier, Minister of Housing and Lands, and Minister of Islamic
Affairs and Hajj in the Republic of Mauritius, Showkutally Soodhun in Foreign Minister
Receives Mauritius Deputy Premier, Alriyadh Newspaper, Jan 29, 2016
[http://www.alriyadh.com/en/article/1123838/Foreign-Minister-Receives-MauritiusDeputy-Premier accessed 11.02.2016]
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, ekhbariya.net, Jan 30, 2016
[http://alekhbariya.net/en/node/4916 accessed 11.02.2016]

Parlement Populaire was born in March 2015 from a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debates and discussions
regarding bills and other topics of general interest. Parlement Populaire is a deliberative platform open to all, without distinction. The
proposals are sent to the Government and the Members of the National Assembly and to the Press as well.

PARLEMENT POPULAIRE
Elias Street Rose-Hill
Republic of Mauritius
Mail : parlementpopulaire@gmail.com / Tel. 5 707 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&newsid=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 [http://www.alriyadh.com/en/article/1124726/Deputy-Crown-Prince-meets-withDeputy-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 Kingdoms tough action against Iran, Saudi Gazette, Feb 10, 2016
[http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/mauritius-backs-kingdoms-tough-action-againstiran 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) :
a) 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.
c) There is no Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Hajj in the Government Directory of Mauritius.
As a consequence, the titles of Deputy Premier and of Minister of Islamic Affairs and Hajj appearing
in the above mentioned press reports and official agencies communiqus 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 is a 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 of the secular State.

Parlement Populaire was born in March 2015 from a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debates and discussions
regarding bills and other topics of general interest. Parlement Populaire is a deliberative platform open to all, without distinction. The
proposals are sent to the Government and the Members of the National Assembly and to the Press as well.

PARLEMENT POPULAIRE
Elias Street Rose-Hill
Republic of Mauritius
Mail : parlementpopulaire@gmail.com / Tel. 5 707 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 Hajj 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 this
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 2015 from a citizen initiative which aimed to provide a public stage for debates and discussions
regarding bills and other topics of general interest. Parlement Populaire is a deliberative platform open to all, without distinction. The
proposals are sent to the Government and the Members of the National Assembly and to the Press as well.