Mauritius Government and Politics

State and politics

Reference: Mauritius Flag Meaning

According to AllCityCodes.com, Mauritius became independent in 1968 and has since been one of the few countries in Africa with functioning multi-party systems. Also see AbbreviationFinder for abbreviation of MU and its meanings of Mauritius.

GOVERNMENT

Mauritius is a parliamentary democracy. Until 1992, the country was a monarchy with the British monarch as head of state, but after a referendum the same year, a republic was introduced. The legislative power is exercised by the National Assembly, which is elected for five years and has a maximum of 70 members, of whom 62 are directly elected. Other mandates are appointed by the Supreme Court and are awarded to candidates who were next in turn to be elected. An extra seat in the National Assembly is reserved for the Registrar, if he has not been elected as an ordinary member. The executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Government, who are responsible for the National Assembly. The President is elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years.

Current policy

The country has almost always been ruled by coalition governments, mainly different constellations between the three dominant Mauritius Labor Party (MLP), Mouvement militant Mauritian (MMM) and Mouvement socialiste militant (MSM). In the 2000 election, an alliance between MMM and MSM clearly prevailed and received 54 of 62 directly elected seats. Prime Minister became MSM leader Anerood Jugnauth, who, in accordance with a settlement, was replaced by MMM’s Paul Bérenger in 2003; Jugnauth was then elected president. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, MMM-MSM was defeated by the coalition Alliance Social(AS) where MLP was included; AS received 38 of 62 seats and MLP’s Navin Ramgoolan became prime minister. Ramgoolan remained in the post even after the 2010 election, before which MLP together with, among others, MSM formed l’Alliance de l’Avenir, which received 41 out of 62 seats. After a controversy in 2011, however, the MSM left the alliance and joined the MMM with Jugnauth as the leader the following year. The latter left the presidential post following pressure from Prime Minister Ramgoolam and was temporarily replaced by Vice President Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau. In July 2012, Rajkeswur Purryag was elected new president.

In the 2014 election, Alliance Lepep, comprising the MSM, the Party of Mauritania Social Democrats (PMSD) and the Muvman Liberators (ML), won, and Jugnauth again became prime minister. As the election result meant that Purryag no longer had the support of a majority of the members of the National Assembly, he entered into an agreement with Jugnauth to resign, which happened at the end of May 2015. New president became Ameenah Gurib-Fakim ​​who was voted by a united parliament. She thus became the country’s first elected female president; Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau has on two occasions resigned as interim president.

Mauritius claims the Chagos Islands, including the atoll Diego Garcia, which was administered under Mauritius until 1965, before the population was displaced to leave space for a US military base. Mauritius also claims the right to the French island of Tromelin. In June 2010, Mauritius and France signed an agreement to jointly manage the island.

Judiciary

The legal system in Mauritius is based on French soil, including on Code Civil, and a bodywork that is predominantly designed according to English role models. The judicial organization consists mainly of several district courts, a central court (Intermediate Court) and a supreme court. The death penalty was abolished in 1995; the last execution took place in 1987.

Heads of State

Presidents

Note.: From independence in 1968 to the establishment of the Republic in 1992, the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II was head of state.