Mauritius Politics is based on the principles representative democracy. The parliament of the Republic of Mauritius plays a major role in the political scenario of the country. There are various social as well as political forces that work in the country. Mauritius is the 29th among the countries, which are under the British Commonwealth.
Mauritius Politics became dominant in the country after it gained independence from the British Rule in the year 1968. Mauritius elections were held for the first time in December 1995, followed by elections in 2000 and 2005. The National Assembly in the country that has total 66 members. General elections are held after every five years to select 62 out of 66 members of the National Assembly. The remaining four members, who represent different ethnic minorities, are appointed by the election commission.
The most interesting part about politics in Mauritius is the myriad political parties in the country. Some of the important Mauritius political parties are as folows:
- Militant Socialist Movement (MSM)
- Militant Movement of Mauritius (MMM)
- Mauritian Labor Party (MLP)
- Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD)
- Rodrigues People's Organisation (RPO)
- Independent Forward Bloc (IFB)
- Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval
- Rodrigues Movement
- Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement (MMSM)
Till date, Mauritius has had coalition governments. Elections in Mauritius are held in 21 constituencies. In the first general elections held in December 1995, the combination of MLP/MMM won with 65.23% of the total votes. MSM and RMM combination secured 19.73% of the votes. Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam was appointed the Prime Minister of the country.
In the second general elections in September 2000, the MSM/MMM combination emerged winners, securing 51.7% of total votes. Labor Party and PMXD combination could only manage 36.57% of the total votes. Paul Berenger was appointed Prime Minister in the second general elections.
In the last elections, which were held in July, 2005, Alliance Sociale attained 53.57% of the total votes, while MSM/MMM could get only 41.7% of the votes. Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam was again appointed the Prime Minister of Mauritius for the second time.
