Former prime minister Navin Ramgoolam has gained a 3rd time period within the Indian Ocean nation, official outcomes present.
Opposition chief Navin Ramgoolam has gained a landslide victory in Mauritius’s parliamentary vote, the election fee mentioned.
The Workplace of the Electoral Commissioner mentioned on Tuesday that Rangoolam and his Alliance of Change (ADC) coalition gained 62.6 p.c of the vote, securing the three-time former prime minister a fourth time period.
The ADC gained 60 of 62 seats within the Nationwide Meeting, state broadcaster Mauritius Broadcasting Company reported.
“The court docket of the folks has delivered its verdict and a brand new Mauritius awakes,” 77-year-old Rangoolam mentioned to crowds of supporters amid boisterous cheers and blaring horns.
Ramgoolam served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and once more from 2005 to 2014.
In addition to the 60 seats for Mauritius, there have been two up for grabs for the island of Rodrigues and one other eight allotted beneath what’s dubbed the “finest loser” system.
The winner-takes-all election mannequin means single coalitions typically dominate parliament.
‘Free to speak’
Incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth had conceded on Monday that his Lepep alliance, led by his Militant Socialist Motion (MSM), was “heading in direction of an enormous defeat”.
“The folks have chosen one other staff to guide the nation,” Jugnauth, who has served as prime minister since 2017, advised reporters.
Solely final month, the 62-year-old prime minister was celebrating a historic deal that noticed Britain cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a long-running dispute.
However the vote was overshadowed by an explosive wire-tapping scandal, when secretly recorded cellphone calls of politicians, diplomats, members of civil society and journalists have been leaked on-line.
Ramgoolam mentioned that following his landslide victory, he would first dismantle the nation’s “spying system in order that Mauritians can be free to speak”.
Financial challenges
Throughout the marketing campaign, each camps promised to enhance the lot of Mauritians who face cost-of-living difficulties regardless of strong financial development.
Measures outlined within the Alliance of Change manifesto embrace the creation of a fund to assist households going through hardship, free public transport, elevated pensions and decreased gas costs, in addition to efforts to deal with corruption and enhance the inexperienced economic system.
It additionally referred to as for constitutional and electoral reforms together with altering how the president and parliament speaker are chosen.
No less than a million folks have been registered to vote on Sunday within the twelfth election since Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968.
Mauritius, which sits about 2,000km (1,240 miles) off Africa’s east coast, is recognised as one of many continent’s most steady democracies and has developed a profitable economic system underpinned by its finance, tourism and agricultural sectors since gaining independence.
Each Jugnauth and Ramgoolam are members of the dynasties which have dominated the management of Mauritius since independence.
Ramgoolam, who beforehand labored as a health care provider and a lawyer, is the son of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who led Mauritius to independence from Britain.
