Politics of Mauritius
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2008-05-08T21:44:44Z
The Transhumanist
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remove extraneous parameter in transclusion call, Replaced: {{Africa in topic|Politics of|African politics}} → {{Africa in topic|Politics of}} using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
{{Politics of Mauritius}}
'''Politics of Mauritius''' takes place in a framework of a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[republic]], whereby the prime minister is the [[head of government]], and of a [[multi-party system]]. [[Executive power]] is exercised by the government. [[Legislative power]] is vested in both the [[government]] and the [[National Assembly of Mauritius|National Assembly]].
==Overview==
Mauritian politics is vibrant and characterised by coalition and alliance building. All parties are centrist and reflect a national consensus that supports democratic politics and a relatively open economy with a strong private sector.
Alone or in coalition, the Mauritian Labor Party (MLP) ruled from 1947 through 1982. The [[Mauritian Militant Movement]]/[[Mauritian Socialist Party]] (MMM/MSM) alliance won the 1982 election, taking all 60 seats in Mauritius. In 1983, defectors from the MMM joined with the PSM to form the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and formed a majority in coalition with the MLP.
In July 1990, the MSM realigned with the MMM and in September 1991 national elections won 59 of the 62 directly elected seats in parliament. In December 1995, the MLP returned to power, this time in coalition with the MMM. The MLP's Navinchandra Ramgoolam, son of the country's first prime minister, became prime minister himself. Ramgoolam dismissed his MMM coalition partners in mid-1997, leaving Labour in power only with several small parties allied with it.
The MMM and MSM rejoined in a coalition that won the [[Mauritian general election, 2000|2000 elections]] and, although a handful of MPs defected from the MSM in early 2005, both parties went together to the next election in July 2005, competing against the Alliance Sociale, a MLP-led coalition. The Alliance Sociale won the elections with an overwhelming majority.
Until [[1992]], Mauritius was a [[constitutional monarchy]] with [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] as [[head of state]], but on [[March 12]] of that year, the country became a republic within the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]]. The last [[Governor-General]], Sir [[Veerasamy Ringadoo]], became [[President of Mauritius|President]] under a transitional arrangement, before stepping down three months later in favour of [[Cassam Uteem]], a former government minister. Under the amended constitution, the country's [[unicameral]] parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was renamed the National Assembly.
==Executive branch==
{{office-table}}
|[[President of Mauritius|President]]
|Sir [[Anerood Jugnauth]]
|
|2003
|-
|[[Vice President of Mauritius|Vice President]]
|[[Angidi Chettiar]]
|
|2007
|-
|[[List of Prime Ministers of Mauritius|Prime Minister]]
|[[Navinchandra Ramgoolam]]
|[[Mauritian Labour Party|MLP-PTr]]
|July 2005
|}
The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms. The prime minister and deputy prime minister are appointed by the president and are responsible to the National Assembly. Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister. The Council of Ministers (cabinet), responsible for the direction and control of the government, consists of the prime minister (head of government), the leader of the majority party in the legislature, and about 20 ministries.
==Legislative branch==
The [[National Assembly of Mauritius|National Assembly]] has 66 members, 62 elected for a four year term in single-seat [[constituency|constituencies]] and 4 additional members appointed by the election commission from the losing political parties to give representation to various ethnic minorities.
==Political parties and elections==
{{elect|List of political parties in Mauritius|Elections in Mauritius}}
{{Mauritius legislative election, 2005}}Every voter has three votes. The total number of votes cast divided by three (648,316) is lower than the actual number people voting (666,178), because not all of them cast three votes. Please note that constituencies 1 to 20 are physically in the island of Mauritius and each has three elected members. Constituency 21 is the island of Rodrigues which has two elected members. The voters based in the island of Agalega and other islets are registered in constituency 1.
==Judicial branch==
Mauritian law is an amalgam of French and British legal traditions. The Supreme Court--a chief justice and five other judges--is the highest local judicial authority. There is an additional higher right of appeal to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]. The Law Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council will
be going to sit in Mauritius as from end-2008, following the plan for lowering the costs of appeal.
==Administrative divisions==
Local government has nine administrative divisions, with municipal and town councils in urban areas and district and village councils in rural areas. The island of [[Rodrigues (island)|Rodrigues]] forms the country's 10th administrative division. Other dependencies are [[Agalega Islands]] and [[Cargados Carajos Shoals]]. The divisions are Black River, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, and Savanne.
==International organization participation==
[[Agency for the French-Speaking Community|ACCT]],
[[African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States|ACP]],
[[African Development Bank|AfDB]],
[[AOSIS]],
[[Commonwealth of Nations|C]],
[[Customs Cooperation Council|CCC]],
[[Economic Commission for Africa|ECA]],
[[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]],
[[Group of 77|G-77]],
[[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]],
[[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development|IBRD]],
[[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]],
[[International Criminal Court|ICCt]],
[[International Confederation of Free Trade Unions|ICFTU]],
[[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|ICRM]],
[[International Development Association|IDA]],
[[International Fund for Agricultural Development|IFAD]],
[[International Finance Corporation|IFC]],
[[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies|IFRCS]],
[[International Labour Organization|ILO]],
[[International Monetary Fund|IMF]],
[[International Maritime Organization|IMO]],
[[International Mobile Satellite Organization|Inmarsat]],
[[Indian Ocean Commission|InOC]],
[[International Telecommunications Satellite Organization|Intelsat]],
[[International Criminal Police Organization|Interpol]],
[[International Olympic Committee|IOC]],
[[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]],
[[International Telecommunication Union|ITU]],
[[Non-Aligned Movement|NAM]],
[[Organization of African Unity|OAU]],
[[Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|OPCW]],
[[Permanent Court of Arbitration|PCA]],
[[Southern African Development Community|SADC]],
[[United Nations|UN]],
[[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development|UNCTAD]],
[[United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]],
[[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]],
[[Universal Postal Union|UPU]],
[[World Confederation of Labour|WCL]],
[[World Federation of Trade Unions|WFTU]],
[[World Health Organization|WHO]],
[[World Intellectual Property Organization|WIPO]],
[[World Meteorological Organization|WMO]],
[[World Tourism Organization|WToO]],
[[World Trade Organization|WTO]]
{{Africa in topic|Politics of}}
[[Category:Politics of Mauritius| ]]
[[pt:Política da ilha Maurício]]