SANF 24 no 43 by Clarkson Mambo
Navin Ramgoolam, a former prime minister, has been returned to office in the recent elections in Mauritius, after sweeping all 60 contested seats in the legislature.
Mauritius uses a constituency electoral system, often called “first-past-the-post”, to choose representatives to its 70-member unicameral National Assembly.
Sixty Members of Parliament (MPs) are directly elected through a unique block voting system of 20 multi-member constituencies. Voters must cast three ballots for different candidates in their constituency to validate their vote. The island of Rodrigues counts as one unit with two representatives, making 21 constituencies and 62 MPs.
The remaining eight MPs are nominated by the Electoral Supervisory Commission from a list of “best losers” to ensure fair representation in Parliament, designed to ensure ethnic balance without altering the balance of power.
The Prime Minister is not directly elected but is the candidate of the party that wins the majority of the seats from the main constituencies.
Mauritius has a governance system similar to Britain and some other Commonwealth members, in which the Prime Minister is head of government and there are no term limits.
The “winner-takes-all” system in Mauritius often leads to coalitions or alliances in parliament and government.
In the general elections held on 10 November, the Alliance du Changement (Alliance for Change) led by 77-year-old statesman and former Prime Minister Ramgoolam secured victory in all the 60 contested seats.
Preliminary results indicate that more than 80 percent of the over one million registered voters, known as “electors” in Mauritius, participated in the election. This figure marks an increase from the 941,719 individuals who voted in the previous polls in 2019, which recorded a voter turnout of 77 percent.
This new mandate for Prime Minister-elect Ramgoolam signals a clear disapproval of the incumbent alliance led by Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth due to economic issues that impacted on the cost of living, and a wiretapping scandal that was exposed before the elections when recorded phone calls of politicans, diplomats, journalists and other citizens were leaked online.
Jugnauth, who leads the L’Alliance Lepep (Alliance of the People), conceded defeat as preliminary results emerged showing the scale of the results.
Jugnauth assumed office as Prime Minister in 2017 following the resignation of his father, Anerood Jugnauth, before the end of his term. He went on to win a subsequent general election in November 2019.
The victory by Ramgoolam highlights a widely acknowledged reality: the political landscape of Mauritius continues to be predominantly influenced by two prominent families – the Ramgoolams and the Jugnauths.
Prime Minister-elect Ramgoolam previously held office as Prime Minister from December 1995 to September 2000, and served a second time from 2005 to 2014.
His father, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was the first Prime Minister of Mauritius after Independence on 12 March 1968, and is widely recognised as founding father.
The election results highlight another distinctive aspect of the Mauritian political landscape: the island state has, since the early 1990s, been governed by coalitions as individual parties have struggled to secure successive electoral victories independently.
According to the Office of the Electoral Commissioner, a total of 29 out of the 73 registered political parties presented candidates for the election. Among the 891 candidates, approximately 293 were under the age of 40, with over 500 standing as independent candidates.
The electoral process was monitored by observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) alongside representatives from various other organisations.
The SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM), led by former Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othman from the United Republic of Tanzania, gave its official endorsement to the electoral proceedings.
“…the 2024 National Assembly Elections were professionally organised and conducted orderly and peacefully, enabling the voters to express their democratic will. The mission commends the people of Mauritius for the political maturity, spirit of tolerance and calmness that generally prevailed during this electoral period,” said a preliminary statement.
The elections were also observed by a 24-member mission from the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC led by Sipho Tembe, who is the Vice Chairperson of the Elections and Boundaries Commission of Eswatini. A 50-member African Union observer mission was led former Vice President of Zimbabwe, Joice Mujuru.
Mauritius is the fourth SADC country to hold parliamentary elections this year after Madagascar, South Africa, and Botswana. Mozambique held presidential as well as parliamentary elections, and Namibia is due to hold general elections on 27 November. sardc.net
