Nita Juddoo: "The MMM has drifted away from its roots"
Nita Juddoo, from the militant legacy of the MMM to the presidency of En Avant Moris, embodies a journey marked by conviction and decisive breaks. In an interview with Dimanche/L’Hebdo, she shares her disillusionment.
Juddoo represents a generation that grew up in the shadow of activism without ever making it an end in itself. Deeply attached to the original values of the MMM, she has nevertheless chosen to break away from a party she believes has become bourgeois and disconnected from its roots.
She was just one year old when her father, the late Ramduth Jaddoo, joined the MMM. He was arrested following the now-famous student protest against the visit of Princess Alexandra of Kent to Mauritius in 1969. “My dad wasn’t there, but the police came to our house and arrested him forcefully.”
At that time, she recalls, being a member of the MMM was not a royal path to power. It was a risky fight, marked by police repression and great material difficulties. “Constituency No. 10, Montagne-Blanche/Grande-Rivière-Sud-Est, was very far from our home on Ollier Street in Quatre-Bornes. My father would come home late, exhausted, sometimes in danger. So I grew up in a political cauldron.”
From a young age, she was immersed in the debates and the values of equality and social justice that the MMM then embodied, such as equal rights, equal opportunities, and defending the weak. Her father’s career, who was appointed ambassador in Paris, exposed her to the world. She lived in France, England, Seychelles, where her husband, a Supreme Court judge, was stationed for seven years, and even in Canada. “These years abroad profoundly shaped me. I closely observed international politics. Barack Obama’s election remains a fantastic moment for me that strengthened my interest in progressive struggles.”
Upon returning to Mauritius, this trained lawyer, currently a lecturer at the African Leadership University, initially hesitated to enter politics. The image of the MMM from the 1970s and 1980s – rebellious, revolutionary, and close to the underprivileged – haunted her. At the end of 2015, a friend suggested she join the party. Refusing to go through her father, she met Paul Bérenger, Ajay Gunness, and other leaders. She joined the regional committee of constituency No. 19 in Rose-Hill in 2016, determined to “learn the ropes,” inspired by her father’s belief that politics requires hard work, sacrifice, and time.
Shortly after joining, a by-election was triggered in Quatre-Bornes following Roshi Bhadain's resignation. Paul Bérenger proposed that she be a candidate. Surprised but enthusiastic, Nita Juddoo accepted. Despite the support from activists, she finished second, behind Arvin Boolell, but ahead of Roshi Bhadain.
This moment marked a turning point. “Some long-standing activists openly contested my rapid rise. The day after I joined, I was a candidate,” she summarizes with irony, noting that others who had been waiting longer felt overlooked. She gradually perceived a party where collective interests were giving way to personal calculations.
In 2018, she broke with the MMM. But before that, she says she was tossed around for months between several constituencies in the lead-up to the 2019 general elections. “It was the internal lobbies,” she says without naming anyone. “One day, I went to see Paul Bérenger and told him, ‘I think I’m going to leave the MMM.’ He tried to keep me and offered me a position on the Central Committee. My response was blunt: ‘There are enough flower pots in that Central Committee.’”
Her resignation was done quietly, without a bombastic press conference or public resentment. In fact, she has remained on good terms with many activists, including Paul Bérenger and Joanna Bérenger.
For her, this break with the MMM is not a betrayal but the result of deep disappointment. “I joined the MMM out of nostalgia for the fiery years, when the party was synonymous with pure activism, idea debates, and the fight for fundamental rights. Over time, the party has become bourgeois and detached from the common Mauritian. Paul Bérenger, absent from his constituency, embodies this growing distance in my eyes.”
Nita Juddoo has since joined En Avant Moris, the new centrist party founded by Patrick Belcourt. “I admired his grassroots work and commitment. He offered me the presidency, and I accepted.” Since then, she has been active in constituency No. 19 and in a small cell in No. 18. “We do politics by listening to citizens, organizing activities, and staying present on the ground. I really enjoy it.”
When asked about the values of the MMM, she reminds of those that have always inspired her since the fiery years: activism, defending rights, equity, and social justice. Values she claims to have seen erode over the years. She notably cites the lack of a strong reaction to the abolition of MPs' pensions or the conflict in Gaza, as well as the successive alliances, particularly with the Labour Party after years of fierce criticism, which she believes have stripped the movement of all credibility.
In 2026, amid the internal crisis of the MMM marked by the "group of 15," Nita Juddoo observes the situation with sadness. She criticizes the "dissidents" for having remained silent for years in the Political Bureau and the Central Committee before airing their grievances publicly. “They created this situation by being yes-men and letting Paul Bérenger decide everything.”
For her, Paul Bérenger remains inseparable from the MMM because he is the last "constant" since the party's creation. However, she laments that the country pays dearly for these internal quarrels. The timing is "very poorly chosen": an economic crisis worsened by global geopolitical tensions, cities left abandoned after municipal elections, and a weakened opposition.
She also regrets the lack of true renewal in the major parties. “Leaders do not know when to step down.”