2014 Mauritian general election
General elections were held in Mauritius on 10 December 2014. Results gave the opposition coalition of Alliance Lepep an upset victory, securing 47 of the directly elected seats under the leadership of Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité, composed of the Labour Party and the Mauritian Militant Movement, led by incumbent prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, only won a total of 13 directly elected seats.
Ramgoolam had governed the country since 2005 for two consecutive terms and was seeking a third term. The election was seen as a referendum to the current government's proposal to increase the powers of the president and making the position directly electable and introducing a proportional system, changing the current electoral system. Ramgoolam and his alliance with Paul Bérenger was seen as the clear favourite to win the election and would easily be able to adopt the proposed changes. Jugnauth's Alliance Lepep, led by the Militant Socialist Movement with the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate and the Muvman Liberater, heavily opposed the change.
In the aftermath of the election, Ramgoolam lost his own seat and his own party relegated to a mere total of four seats, with Bérenger's party winning 12 seats out of the 16 that the alliance achieved. He conceded defeat after voters rejected his proposals. Alliance Lepep won a total of 51 seats, with the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate achieving its best result since the 1970s.
The 84-year old Jugnauth, forming his sixth and final government, was appointed as prime minister on 14 December, effective from 13 December. He and his ministers were fully sworn in on 17 December. Eventually, he would give way in 2017 to his son, Pravind, after two years in the premiership and resign, becoming Minister Mentor under his son's government.
Background
In the aftermath of the general election held in 2010, Navin Ramgoolam was reelected for a second consecutive term as prime minister under the coalition banner of Alliance de l'Avenir, composed of his party, Labour, and two other natural governing parties in the country, the Militant Socialist Movement, led by Pravind Jugnauth, and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate, led by Xavier-Luc Duval.Under the new government, Ramgoolam remained as premier whilst Jugnauth was appointed as finance minister and Duval as minister of social integration. Both leaders were also appointed as vice-prime minister in addition to their portfolios.
Paul Bérenger's Mauritian Militant Movement contested the election along with two other minor parties under the coalition of Alliance du Coeur, which lost. Bérenger became leader of the opposition in the aftermath of the election.
MedPoint affair
On 22 July 2011, health minister Maya Hanoomanjee, from the MSM, was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption following the government's purchase of the MedPoint clinic in December 2010. Hanoomanjee was accused of having conflict of interest with the purchase, after being dissatisfied with the valuation of the clinic. MedPoint was originally valued at Rs 75 million and Hanoomanjee thereafter requested for a revalution in September 2010, which result with the government purchasing the clinic for Rs 144.7 million.The clinic was owned by Krishnan Malhotra and Shalini Jugnauth-Malhotra, the former being the brother-in-law and the latter the sister of finance minister Pravind Jugnauth, as well as the daughter of former prime minister and incumbent president Anerood Jugnauth. During the scandal, the clinic was often referred to as the Jugnauth family's clinic. The goal of the purchase was to convert the hospital into a specialised clinic.
Under pressure from the scandal, Hanoomanjee resigned from the government on 26 July, with her fellow colleagues from the MSM also filing their resignations on the same day. Jugnauth, Nando Bodha, Showkutally Soodhun, Leela Devi Dookun and Ashit Gungah all left the government, leaving Ramgoolam's government with 36 seats in the National Assembly against 33 seats of the opposition.
Two months after leaving the government, Jugnauth was also arrested on 22 September over corruption charges and conflicts of interest under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Resignation of Anerood Jugnauth as president
Following further conflicts with the government and Ramgoolam, as well as the aftermath of the MedClinic affair, Anerood Jugnauth decided to resign the presidency on 31 March 2012, citing disagreement with the "philosophy of the government" and the direction of the country under Ramgoolam's government, accusing it of leading the country to poverty. This would see the return and comeback of the former premier and statesman into active politics.The relationship between the premier and the president had erupted following Paul Bérenger's announcement that a new opposition alliance was under works with his party, Mauritian Militant Movement, and Jugnauth's Militant Socialist Movement, a recreation of the MSM/MMM alliance in the early 2000s and dubbed as Remake 2000. Bérenger had several meetings with Jugnauth at the State House in Port Louis and Ramgoolam had asked the latter to confirm or deny the statement made by Bérenger and, if in the case of confirmation, to resign the presidency.
Electoral system
The National Assembly has 62 directly elected members; 60 represent 20 three-seat constituencies, and two are elected from a constituency on the island of Rodrigues. The elections are held using the plurality block vote system with panachage, whereby voters have as many votes as seats available. In what is commonly known as the Best Loser System, should a community fail to win parliamentary representation, the Electoral Supervisory Commission can appoint up to eight unsuccessful candidates from these communities with the most votes. The Electoral Commission divides the electorate into four communities: Hindus, Muslims, Sino-Mauritians and the general population; the latter comprises voters who do not belong to the first three. Unless the president dissolves the National Assembly early, members serve a five-year term.Eligible candidates and voters are required to be at least 18 years old, citizens of the Commonwealth and have resided in Mauritius for at least two years before the nomination date. A total of 936,975 individuals were registered to vote in this election. Public officials stationed in Mauritius but enrolled in constituencies in Rodrigues or Agaléga and vice versa are eligible to apply for proxy voting. Since 2014, it has been optional for candidates to declare which community they belong to. Contestants who refuse to affiliate with a community are ineligible for a Best Loser nomination. Candidates have to be proficient enough in English to participate in parliamentary procedures. They also require the nomination from at least six electors in their constituency and a deposit to be paid, which is refunded if they obtain at least 10% of the vote. Individuals ineligible to be contestants include those who have committed electoral offences, have served a prison sentence exceeding 12 months, have undisclosed government contracts or have undisclosed bankruptcy.
Schedule
Prime Minister Ramgoolam advised the president, Kailash Purryag, to dissolve the National Assembly on 6 October 2014. The writ for the election was issued on 7 November, with nomination day being on 24 November. The date for the election was set to 10 December. Two days later, on 12 December, the determination of the best loser seats were made based on the official returns.| Date | Event |
| 6 October | The 6th National Assembly is dissolved |
| 7 November | The president issues the writ for the election |
| 24 November | Nomination day |
| 10 December | Polling day |
| 12 December | Allocation of best loser seats |
Parties and candidates
In September 2014, the leaders of the Labour Party and the Mauritian Militant Movement, Navin Ramgoolam and Paul Berenger, signed an agreement to enter into an electoral alliance for the next general election. The plan of this agreement vowed to push through constitutional changes giving greater power to the now-ceremonial role of president.Soon after, the Militant Socialist Movement, the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate and the Muvman Liberater formed a coalition to face the PTR–MMM Alliance in the next general election.
The Labour Party and the MMM each proposed 30 candidates, with each party having either one or two candidates in every mainland constituency. Like other mainland parties, however, they did not contest the two seats allocated to the island of Rodrigues.
Campaign
Alliance of Unity and Modernity
The governmental alliance of the Labour Party and the Mauritian Militant Movement, under the name Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité, proposed the implementation of a Second Republic under a stronger and powerful presidential system.The current system is purely based on the Westminster style of government where the head of state is a ceremonial figurehead with very few executive powers. Under the PTR–MMM agreement, the new President would be elected through a single-round election across the country. Additional powers would include the prerogative to preside over the cabinet of ministers, dissolve the National Assembly, recommendations in various institutions including the appointment of ministers. The President would also be able to address the National Assembly as and when required, and would be elected for a 7-year term, as opposed to the five-year term served by the National Assembly.
While some political observers define this agreement as innovative and a unification of the population through votes, other people mention that Ramgoolam had always favored a presidential system of government while Berenger had argued for a Second Republic since 1987.
The agreement concluded that if the coalition wins a three-quarters majority in parliament, a bill would be passed to implement the new republic, with Navin Ramgoolam resigning to present himself as a presidential candidate while Paul Berenger would replace him as Prime Minister.
Alliance Lepep
The Alliance Lepep is composed of three parties and is led by Anerood Jugnauth. It was formed as a response to the formation of the PTR–MMM alliance. The program of the Alliance was mainly on the following measures that would be taken if the Alliance formed the next government. They are as follows:- Review the Driver’s license penalty points system:
- Identity card "Data Bank" to be destroyed:
- Implement a decrease in prices of Gasoline and diesel.
- Introduce private TV:
- Arrange MBC:
- Old age pension scheme at Rs 5000/month:
- Syndicate police
- Minimum Wage:
Results
Election results were declared the following day after the election. Alliance Lepep won a total of 51 seats against the Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité's 16 seats. Amongst the 47 constituency seats won by Alliance Lepep, 33 were won by the MSM; PMSD and ML each received seven seats. The Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité won 13 constituency seats, with the MMM receiving nine and Labour with four seats. The remaining two elected seats went to the Organisation du Peuple Rodriguais.Under the best loser system, the Electoral Commissioner's Office designated 7 additional seats from the non-elected candidates to occupy the National Assembly based on the religious and ethnic declarations of the candidates not elected. Out of the seven best loser seats that were allocated in this election, the Alliance Lepep received four seats, which were all taken by the PMSD, and the Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité received three seats, all allocated to the MMM.
By party breakdown, in total, the Militant Socialist Movement received 33 seats, the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate with 11 seats and the Muvman Liberater with 7 seats in the Alliance Lepep's 51 seats. On the other hand, the Alliance de l'Unité et de la Modernité's 16 seats were divided between the Mauritian Militant Movement's total of 12 seats whilst the Labour Party's 4 seats.
936,975 individuals were registered to vote in this election and the turnout was 74.11%.
Aftermath
Following the declaration of results, Alliance Lepep leader, Anerood Jugnauth, announced in a press conference that his administration will start working on the programme they have been elected to and promised to put the country "back on track for another economic miracle."In a broadcast from the state-owned television station on 12 December 2014, Navin Ramgoolam conceded his defeated and congratulated Jugnauth's alliance, wishing them good luck. He also thanked his constituency after his defeat in his own seat. Thereafter, Ramgoolam submitted his and his cabinet's resignation to the president on 13 December.
Jugnauth was tasked to form a new government by the president, Kailash Purryag, and received his appointment on 14 December, with the appointment being backdated to 13 December. Shortly afterwards, Jugnauth and his cabinet were sworn in at State House in Port Louis on 17 December. At 84 years old, Jugnauth became prime minister for the third time and for a sixth mandate in his own right. Paul Bérenger was reappointed as leader of the opposition on 13 December.
The seventh National Assembly was convened on 22 December and oversaw the swearing-in of all members of the assembly. Defeated incumbent Militant Socialist Movement MP Maya Hanoomanjee, the former health minister who resigned after the MedPoint affair, was elected as speaker, becoming the first female holder of the office. In addition, Adrien Duval of the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate was elected as deputy speaker, and became the youngest elected member of the assembly at 24.