Presidential (by National Assembly): May 2008

Description of Electoral System:

The President is a ceremonial Head of State and is elected by Parliament. The President is assisted by a Vice-President and they serve a five year term. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and is the head of government. The President appoints the Prime Minister who has the majority support in the National Assembly; the National Assembly can remove the Prime Minister by a vote of no-confidence.

Parliament consists of the President and the National Assembly. The National Assembly consist of up to 70 members, 62 of which are elected by universal adult suffrage in a secret ballot from multi-member constituencies by a plurality. Up to eight seats can be allocated by the Electoral Supervisory Commission according to a complex formula to "best losers" to ensure "a fair and adequate representation of each community, members serve five year term.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

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Politics of Mauritius

Mauritius became independent in 1968. Democracy in Mauritius has had its periods of uncertainty as a result of inter-communal unrest in its early years. In the early 1970’s the newly formed Mouvement Militant Mauritian (MMM) initiated disruptive and violent strikes and the Labour Party government proclaimed a state of emergency, proscribed many forms of political activity and postponed elections. The emergency was lifted in 1976, parliament was dissolved and a general election was held in December.

Since then Mauritius has developed into a mature stable democracy with regular transferences of power as the electorate has replaced one government with another through elections. Mauritian politics are vibrant and characterized by coalition and alliance building. Minorities participate in Parliament and government through coalition with the other communities. 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 Labour Party (MLP) ruled from 1947 through 1982 and returned to power in 1995. The Mauritian Militant Movement/Mauritian Socialist Party (MMM/PSM) alliance won the 1982 election. In 1983, defectors from the MMM joined with the PSM to form the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and won a working majority. After 13 years in power (1982-1995), the MSM and its ally, the RMM, was defeated by the Labour Party/MMM alliance in December 1995. Labour'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 with the support of several small parties allied with it. Elections in September 2000 saw the re-emergence of the MSM-MMM as the winning alliance.

Previous election

DID YOU KNOW? Mauritius is one of the oldest and most stable democracies in the SADC.

In the July 2005 National Assembly elections two alliance dominated electoral campaigning. These were the opposition Alliance Sociale (AS) (consisting of Labour Party, Parti Mauricien Xavier Duval, Mouvement Militant Socialiste Mauricien, Mouvement Republicain and Les Verts) and the ruling MSM/MMM Alliance (Mouvement Militant Mauricien, Mouvement Socialiste Militant and Parti Mauricien Social Democrate).

These elections Alliance Sociale emerged victorious with 42 of 70 seats and the alliance leader, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, became prime minister. The MSM/MMM Alliance went into opposition with 24 seats and the remaining 4 seats went to small Rodriguais based parties.

Next election

The next National Assembly election is scheduled for 2010.