It was hot in Port Louis and Quatre Borne, hawkers peddled food and drink and families brought the kids for a fun outing. Costumes were worn in every shape and size, combining all the colours of all the parties in the alliances turned the outdoor venues into a kaleidescope of moving shades and hues. Thousands of unarmed police efficiently tried to control traffic as crowded vehicles moved across the hilly capital city of this volcanic island. The rallies, originally planned to be held about an hour apart overlapped until mid-afternoon as motorcades raced in different directions waving flags from buses supporting one or the other alliance. At one point just outside the downtown parliament buildings, chaos was added to confusion as the small but noisy Hizbullah Party drove a wedge of cars and motorcycles, bedecked with people wearing and waving the solid green colour of Islam, through traffic trying to get to the racetrack.
Police simply let it happen.
Looking smart in their blue uniforms with checkered hats, the police were extremely professional, controlling the crowds and massive traffic jams with good-natured tolerance. The remarkable lack of tension despite the strident accusations of one side accusing the other of bribery, incompetence, laziness, disloyalty and a host of other political and non-political sins reflects the tolerance among the island's 1.2 million people of widely varied ethnic backgrounds and religions. Three MPs are elected from each of 20 constituencies and two from the offshore island of Rodrigues. The maximum of eight, however, cannot unbalance the results of the voting. However, for today it was all festivity and frolic as hard as the politicians tried to demonize each other.