Gaëtan Duval


Sir Charles Gaëtan Duval QC Kt was a barrister, statesman and politician from Mauritius who was the leader of the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate. A disciple of Jules Koenig, the first leader of the PMSD, he was in favour of the integration of Mauritius into the United Kingdom and led the conservative movement against independence, which supported mostly by white oligarchs and most of the creole community, who feared Hindu hegemony in an independent Mauritius. The 1967 general elections, which were dominated by the independence question, were considered as one of the most violent and communal elections in Mauritian history. His controversial slogans malbar nous pa oulé or envelopé nous pa oulé were heavily criticised. However, his popularity among the creole community led to him becoming known as Le Roi Creole.
After losing the elections, Duval subsequently became Leader of the Opposition, as Mauritius became independent in 1968. He held the position on three separate occasions, and was also Mayor of Port-Louis during the same period, before becoming a cabinet minister in Ramgoolam's government. He later served in the cabinet of Anerood Jugnauth as Deputy Prime Minister between 1983 and 1988. He died in 1996 whilst still a Member of Parliament for Curepipe and Midlands.
A central political figure in Mauritius in the 1970s, Duval's party lost much of its electorate in the 1980s to the radical leftist Mauritian Militant Movement party. He nevertheless remained an enigmatic political personality even his party had less than five MPs for the period between 1982 and 1996.

Biography

Duval was born in Rose Hill on 9 October 1930. He was born in an upper middle-class Creole family. His father Charles was a civil servant and his mother Rosida, housewife. When his father died in 1933, when he was only three years old, his uncle Raoul raised him. The young Duval attended Saint-Enfant-Jésus RCA primary school and the Royal College of Curepipe. He will then study law at Lincoln's Inn and the Faculty of Law of Paris.
He then joined the Mauritian Bar to practice as Barrister. He quickly became well known due to his knowledge of criminal law and his wit in defending serious crime cases. He later became a disciple of Jules Koenig.

Political career

After studying law in the UK and France, he embarked on the political arena in Mauritius alongside Jules Koenig, founder of the PMSD. This party advocated membership in the United Kingdom while the Independence Party of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, fighting for the independence of the country. The PMSD lost the elections of August 1967, but integrated the government of national unity formed in December 1969.
To appease tensions between the creole and Indo-Mauritian community, which was the result of the August 1967 general elections and January 1968 communal riots, his party joined a united government in 1969 serving as a cabinet Minister of Ramgoolam. He was dismissed as cabinet minister in 1973 and served as Leader of the Opposition again until 1976. In the 1976 general elections, PMSD won only 7 seats, and Gaetan Duval lost his seat and remained out of the legislative assembly until 1983. His party having won only 2 seats in the 1982 elections, he served from 1982 to 1983 for a last time as Leader of the Opposition.
He made an electoral arrangement with then prime minister Jugnauth in the 1983 general elections and later joined the government, the alliance having won same. He became Minister of Tourism during which his tenure was applauded by the entire country. He became Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius and served as such until 1988 when he left the government a last time. He was lastly elected MP in 1995 elections and remained as such until his death.
In the 1990s, he entered in a public feud with his son Xavier-Luc Duval, over the leadership and symbol of the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate|PMSD. His son, Xavier-Luc revealed to the population that he was ashamed of bearing the surname of Duval, due to the immoral lifestyle of his father. He nevertheless won his case in the Supreme Court and his son eventually created his own party named Parti Mauricien Xavier Duval. He was not in good terms with his son at the time of his death.

Personal life

Duval was the father of two sons, Xavier-Luc Duval and Richard Duval, whom he adopted at birth. Xavier-Luc trained as an accountant before becoming a politician and served as a cabinet minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Richard worked as a stable hand before starting his career in the Mauritian Parliament. Gaetan's grandson Adrien, who is Xavier's son, served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly for between 2014 and 2017.
Having been estranged with his son Xavier during the 1990s a faction was formed within PMSD which led to the splitting of PMSD. Gaëtan created his new party called Parti Gaëtan Duval whilst Xavier's faction formed a new party called Parti Mauricien Xavier Duval. However, the PMSD was reunited in 2008 when Xavier and his party agreed to dissolve the PMXD and integrate back into the PMSD.

Recognition

In recognition of his political and judicial career, the Legion of Honor was awarded to him by France in 1973. Later he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1981 New Year Honours. In Mauritius, several facilities bear his name, including the hotel school of Ebène and the stadium of the municipality of Rose Hill. He is also the face of the Rs. 1,000 bank note and featured on a postage stamp issued by Mauritius Post.
Several books have been written about Gaëtan Duval including 'Le droit à l’excès' and 'L’incarné du voyage' by . In 2015 the documentary "Gaëtan Duval, Une Vie" was released by La Compagnie Des Autres in Mauritius.
Following Gaëtan Duval's death in 1996 his son Xavier has made it an annual tradition to host an open house at Gaëtan's bungalow located at Grand Gaube on the coast of Mauritius.