| |
|
|
| |
Home
>
World
> Africa
> Mauritius
|
History and Government
History: The island group was uninhabited until the 16th century when it was occupied by a small Dutch force that named it after Prince Maurice of Nassau. It was abandoned in 1710 and then re-occupied five years later by the French who imported African slaves to work on the sugar plantations. Mauritius and its neighbouring islands were captured by the British in 1810 and formally ceded by the 1814 Treaty of Paris. After the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, Indian labourers were imported and their descendants now comprise more than two-thirds of the population. Incorporated into the British Empire, Mauritius remained a colony until 1957, when it was granted internal self-government with an electoral system based on the Westminster model.
Dr (later Sir) Seewoosagur Ramgoolam’s Labour Party came to power. Full independence was granted in 1968, but the British kept a number of smaller islands, which were hived off as the British Indian Ocean Territory. These included Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos archipelago, which has been leased to the USA and now hosts a large naval and air force facility which played a key role in both the 1991 Gulf War and the 2001 Afghanistan conflict. The presumed maltreatment of the former inhabitants, who were expelled to make way for the new base, was the subject of an interim settlement in the English courts in 2000 under which some of them and their descendants may in principle be able to return to part of the archipelago. The settlement is still under discussion.
Post-independence Mauritian politics have been dominated by Ramgoolam, and then by the two principal figures of the Mauritian Left, Paul Bérenger and (later Sir) Anerood Jugnauth. The charismatic Bérenger made a dramatic contrast to the cautious, pragmatic Jugnauth, and the focus of the Mauritian political scene has often been the personal and political clash between the two.
Both rose to prominence in the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) which emerged as the principal opposition to Ramgoolam’s coalition governments of the late 1960s and 1970s. These administrations were dominated by Ramgoolam’s own Mauritian Labour Party (MLP) and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocratique (PMSD) led by Gaetan Duval. The MMM eventually came to power in 1982 following a landslide general election victory. However, the administration was fraught with policy disagreements and personality clashes. Jugnauth then left the MMM to form the Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien (MSM) and fought the 1987 election campaign in alliance with the Labour Party and the Social Democrats. This three-party alliance won the poll.
The governments of the 1990s were a series of coalitions between the MMM and either Jugnauth’s Socialist Movement or – for a two-year period – the Labour party. The latter was now led by Navin Ramgoolam, son of Sir Seewoosagur, while Jugnauth and Bérenger continued to dominate their respective parties. At the most recent election in 2000, the MSM and the MMM, under Jugnauth’s leadership, won all but eight of the National Assembly’s 62 seats. Shortly afterwards, Mauritius achieved a welcome boost to its international profile by narrowly defeating Sudan to secure for the first time a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
In 1992, Jugnauth had achieved a key political objective by converting Mauritius into a republic within the Commonwealth with a president, elected by the national assembly, as head of state. The post has limited political clout. This was highlighted in February 2002 when the incumbent, Angidi Chettiar, resigned over the proposed introduction of draconian anti-terrorist legislation. His immediate successor followed suit after just three days. The post is now held by Karl Auguste Offmann, and the anti-terrorism bill which caused the upheaval is law.
Government: Under constitutional amendments that came into effect in March 1992, Mauritius is now a republic. Legislative power rests with the unicameral 62-seat National Assembly, which is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term. Four additional members are appointed by the Supreme Court. The National Assembly elects the President of the Republic who is Head of State. The President appoints the Prime Minister from the Assembly and other ministers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
|
|
|
|
|
