Mauritius

Mauritius was granted independence on March 12, 1968. The Mauritius Labour Party (MLP), headed by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, governed Mauritius during the first 14 years of independence. The opposition Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) gained strength throughout the 1970s, and in 1982 swept to power under the leadership of Anerood Jugnauth. Ousted from the MMM in a power struggle, Jugnauth formed a new party, the Mauritian Socialist Movement, which, in alliance with the MLP, won a parliamentary majority in 1983. Jugnauth’s coalition was re-elected in 1987 and 1991. Mauritius became a republic in 1992, with Cassam Uteem as its president.

In elections held in December 1995, the MLP won 65 per cent of the seats and Navin Ramgoolam became prime minister, setting up a coalition with the MMM. In 1997 in an unpopular move he sacked the MMM leader, his deputy and foreign affairs minister, Paul Raymond Bérenger. In September 2000 the so-called kingmaker Bérenger returned; this time his party's alliance with the MSM helped restore Jugnauth to power, with a commanding majority that precipitated the resignation of Ramgoolam. An MSM/MMM coalition was duly formed, with Jugnauth as prime minister and Bérenger his deputy.

President Uteem resigned in February 2002 in protest at a controversial anti-terrorism bill drawn up by the government. The president refused to sign the new legislation, as did his immediate successor in the role, Angidi Chettiar, who was appointed shortly afterwards but who also resigned in protest. The country’s third president in as many weeks, Supreme Court Chief Justice Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay, signed the bill into law the same month.

Pillay was succeeded by Karl Offmann in February 2002 but was replaced by Raouf Bundhun, in an acting capacity, for less than a week. In October 2003 Sir Anerood Jugnauth, who had resigned as prime minister the previous month, assumed the office of president. He passed the leadership of the MSM to his son Pravind. The new prime minister was Paul Raymond Bérenger. He resigned in July 2005 after losing the general election to Navim Ramgoolaam’s Social Alliance, which won 38 of the 62 constituencies.