Politics of Mauritius
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Politics of Mauritius takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.
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[edit] Overview
Mauritian politics is vibrant and characterised by coalition and alliance building. All parties are centrist and reflect a national consensus that supports democratic politics and a relatively open economy with a strong private sector.
Alone or in coalition, the Mauritian Labor Party (MLP) ruled from 1947 through 1982. The Mauritian Militant Movement/Mauritian Socialist Party (MMM/MSM) alliance won the 1982 election, taking all 60 seats in Mauritius. In 1983, defectors from the MMM joined with the PSM to form the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and formed a majority in coalition with the MLP.
In July 1990, the MSM realigned with the MMM and in September 1991 national elections won 59 of the 62 directly elected seats in parliament. In December 1995, the MLP returned to power, this time in coalition with the MMM. The MLP's Navinchandra Ramgoolam, son of the country's first prime minister, became prime minister himself. Ramgoolam dismissed his MMM coalition partners in mid-1997, leaving Labour in power only with several small parties allied with it.
The MMM and MSM rejoined in a coalition that won the 2000 elections and, although a handful of MPs defected from the MSM in early 2005, both parties went together to the next election in July 2005, competing against the Alliance Sociale, a MLP-led coalition. The Alliance Sociale won the elections with an overwhelming majority.
Until 1992, Mauritius was a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, but on March 12 of that year, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth. The last Governor-General, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, became President under a transitional arrangement, before stepping down three months later in favour of Cassam Uteem, a former government minister. Under the amended constitution, the country's unicameral parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was renamed the National Assembly.
[edit] Executive branch
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Sir Anerood Jugnauth | 2003 | |
| Vice President | Angidi Chettiar | 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Navinchandra Ramgoolam | MLP-PTr | July 2005 |
The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms. The prime minister and deputy prime minister are appointed by the president and are responsible to the National Assembly. Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister. The Council of Ministers (cabinet), responsible for the direction and control of the government, consists of the prime minister (head of government), the leader of the majority party in the legislature, and about 20 ministries.
[edit] Legislative branch
The National Assembly has 66 members, 62 elected for a four year term in single-seat constituencies and 4 additional members appointed by the election commission from the losing political parties to give representation to various ethnic minorities.
[edit] Political parties and elections
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Additional seats | total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alliance Sociale:
|
948,766 | 48.8 | 38 | 4 | 42 |
Alliance MSM-MMM
|
829,460 | 42.6 | 22 | 2 | 24 |
| Rodrigues People's Organisation (Organisation du Peuple Rodriguais) | 10,184 | 0.8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| All others | 156,538 | 8.0 | |||
| Total (Turnout 81.5 %) | 1,944,948 | 100.0 | 62 | 8 | 70 |
| Source: Adam Carr | |||||
Every voter has three votes. The total number of votes cast divided by three (648,316) is lower than the actual number people voting (666,178), because not all of them cast three votes. Please note that constituencies 1 to 20 are physically in the island of Mauritius and each has three elected members. Constituency 21 is the island of Rodrigues which has two elected members. The voters based in the island of Agalega and other islets are registered in constituency 1.
[edit] Judicial branch
Mauritian law is an amalgam of French and British legal traditions. The Supreme Court--a chief justice and five other judges--is the highest local judicial authority. There is an additional higher right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Law Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council will be going to sit in Mauritius as from end-2008, following the plan for lowering the costs of appeal.
[edit] Administrative divisions
Local government has nine administrative divisions, with municipal and town councils in urban areas and district and village councils in rural areas. The island of Rodrigues forms the country's 10th administrative division. Other dependencies are Agalega Islands and Cargados Carajos Shoals. The divisions are Black River, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, and Savanne.
[edit] International organization participation
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AOSIS, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, InOC, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
