Madam Speaker, let me state at the very beginning that transparency and accountability will be the core values of the actions of this Government. We have already announced in the Government Programme 2025-2029 that a Freedom of Information Act will be introduced for the purpose of enhancing transparency in relation to decisions of all public institutions.

26 The House would appreciate that Freedom of Information Acts lay the principle of access to information, but they also embody exceptions, as you rightly pointed out. A perusal of the existing legislation in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other democratic countries will show that these Acts come with some exceptions. This is universally the practice and is accepted. Exceptions are expressly spelt out in such Acts for the purpose of public order, for maintaining stability, for respecting other legal and ethical obligations, and more importantly, for the protection of basic rights of the individual. In Mauritius, as with the legislation pertaining to this matter in other democratic countries, our Data Protection Act lays clearly the universal principle of protection of personal and sensitive data of the individual. Exemptions to this right are also clearly and limitatively laid down in the said Act. When the Freedom of Information Act will be introduced, it will be in conformity with the best practices in other jurisdictions. As the hon. Member rightly says in his question, it will have to strike a balance between transparency and other interests such as, national security, public safety, and defence. The Act will also include exceptions aiming at protecting the fundamental rights of individuals. Madam Speaker, transactions, whether they involve public funds or not, usually contain confidentiality clauses though this is not a mandatory requirement of the law of contract. However, confidentiality clauses are inserted in contracts for a wide variety of reasons, and these are universally accepted. Therefore, a blanket ban on the use of confidentiality clauses in transactions except for matters related to defence and national security as proposed in the question, whilst desirable, may have to be examined in the broader context of exceptions applicable to such types of legislations, whilst ensuring that the principles of accountability and transparency are not undermined.

Thank you. Yes!

Madam Speaker, the hon. Prime Minister realises that with the use of public funds, there has to be accountability. And in the past, whether the last government …

Question! Question, please!

Yes, I am coming up.

27 … whether the last government or the government before that have used confidentiality clauses with regard to contracts and, therefore, have relied on that so as not to allow Parliament to have its function of oversight. Therefore, the question, Madam Speaker, is whether he understates that any contract with regard to public funds will not use confidentiality clauses? Because we have seen in the past that Mauritius has invoked confidentiality clauses while the other party had no problem in disclosing the information. So, can he undertake that such use of confidentiality clauses will not be used?

I just explained at length what we intend to do. You, yourself, in your question, say: ‘except for matters relating to defence and national security’. I did say that also, but there are also some confidentiality clauses in some cases which need to be looked at very properly. This is what I said.

If I may, Madam Speaker. I’ll take an example. Let’s take the example of Côte d'Or Ltd where there has been…

You are on slippery ground!

(Interruptions)

… there has been not only …

Ala li tir pese boug la!

(Interruptions)

I can take the example of Jin Fei also where there has been relied …

We want you to put a question!

I am putting the question, Madam Speaker.

No, you are stating!

The question is that wherever public funds are involved, of course, where the matter relates to security is one thing – acceptable! But wherever there are public funds, it should, one, fall under the Public Procurement Act, and it should not be the subject of confidentiality clauses because the public has the right to know. Therefore, will he contemplate not having any exception other than what we both agree on, national security and public order? But for others, procurement of services and procurement of machinery and equipment should not be subject to confidentiality clauses at all!

28

Exactly what you said! Look at what happened during COVID- 19, I have just mentioned that in the other question. You know what happened; still, you joined the Party that was doing it. An hon. Member: Kokin!

Then you didn’t ask any questions. Now, you want to ask me questions when we are actually correcting the mistakes that you have made. We are going to be accountable for every rupee and cent that is spent, except for what I said just now.

Okay. Hon. Second Member for Rodrigues, please! RODRIGUES - POLICE OFFICERS - SHORTAGE