The known and sometimes formally documented history of Mauritius begins with its possible discovery by Austronesians under the Austronesian expansion from pre-Han Taiwan, circa 1500 to 1000 BC, and then by Arabs,, followed by Portuguese and its appearance on European maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, and became independent on 12 March 1968.
Politics of Mauritius takes place in a framework of a parliamentary democracy. The separation of powers is among the three branches of the Government of Mauritius, namely the legislative, the executive and the Judiciary, is embedded in the Constitution of Mauritius. Being a Westminster system of government, Mauritius's unicameral house of parliament officially, the National Assembly, is supreme. It elects the President and the Prime Minister. While the President is voted by a single majority of votes in the house, the Prime Minister is the MP who supports a majority in the house. The President is the Head of State while the prime minister has full executive power and is the Head of Government who is assisted by a council of Ministers. Mauritius has a multi-party system. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Mauritius a "full democracy" in 2022.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, PV, was a Mauritian statesman, politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. A central figure of Mauritian politics in the 1980s and 1990s, he was Leader of the Opposition from 1976 to 1982. He served four consecutive terms as prime minister from 1982 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2003. He was then elected as President from 2003 to 2012. Following his party's victory in the 2014 general elections, he served his sixth and final term as prime minister, becoming the nation's longest serving prime minister with more than 18 years of tenure, overtaking Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who held the office for 14 years.
Paul Raymond Bérenger is a Mauritian politician who was Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2003 to 2005. He has been Leader of the Opposition on several occasions – from 1983 to 1987, 1997 to 2000, 2005 to 2006, 2007 to 2013, October 2013 to 15 September 2014, and again from December 2014 to December 2016 when he was replaced by Xavier-Luc Duval. Following his party's defeat in the 2014 general elections, he became Leader of the Opposition for the sixth time, making him the longest ever to serve in this constitutional position. He was also deputy prime minister from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2003, and he was a cabinet minister in the government of Anerood Jugnauth in 1982 and 1991. Bérenger, a Christian of Franco-Mauritian descent, has been the only non-Hindu prime minister of Mauritius, or, more particularly, the only prime minister who has not belonged to the Jugnauth or Ramgoolam families.
The Mauritian Militant Movement is a left-wing socialist political party in Mauritius. The party was founded by a group of students in the late 1960s. The MMM advocates a fairer society, without discrimination on the basis of social class, race, community, caste, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Since 1967, Mauritius has experienced 13 free and fair democratic general elections to choose a government.
The Labour Party is a centre-left social democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties, along with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD). The party is led by Navin Ramgoolam. It tends to be more popular amongst Indo-Mauritians, especially in more rural areas.
Navinchandra Ramgoolam is a Mauritian politician and doctor serving as prime minister of Mauritius for the third time following the 2024 general election, after the landslide victory of his coalition Alliance du Changement. He is a prominent figure in the political history of Mauritius, having served multiple terms as the Prime Minister of the country. He is also the leader of the Labour Party.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 5 May 2010. The coalition comprising Mauritius Labour Party under Navin Ramgoolam, the Militant Socialist Movement under Pravind Jugnauth and the Mauritian Social Democrat Party under Xavier-Luc Duval won a majority with 41 seats in the parliament. The Mauritian Militant Movement-led coalition under Paul Berenger finished second with 18 seats. The Mauritian Solidarity Front won one seat and the Rodrigues Movement won the two remaining seats. The elections were the ninth to be held since independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is a Mauritian politician who was one of the former prime ministers, succeeding his father in 2017, Aneerood Jugnauth, where he led the cabinet until 2019.He then became Prime Minister (PM) again in 2019 following the victory of his coalition, L'Alliance Morisien, where he remained as PM until 2024, where he and his coalition, L'Alliance Lepep faced a humiliating defeat in the Mauritius 2024 General Elections.
Charles Gaëtan Xavier-Luc Duval is a Mauritian politician and was also Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius in the cabinet of Sir Anerood Jugnauth from December 2014 to December 2016. He was also Minister of Tourism & External Communications and serves as 1st Member of Parliament elected from Constituency No 18 Belle Rose & Quatres Bornes. He is the leader of the Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD). His party has 4 MPs at parliament and he succeeded Arvin Boolell as Leader of Opposition on 4 March 2021.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 10 December 2014 and resulted in a landslide victory for the Alliance Lepep coalition, which secured 47 of the elected seats under the leadership of Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The Labour Party–Mauritian Militant Movement (PTR–MMM) alliance led by Navin Ramgoolam got 13 seats.
Sangeet Fowdar FCCA, MP is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and Mauritian politician, serving as a member of parliament for Grand Baie & Poudre d'Or, Mauritius. He is a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the parliamentary representative for Mauritius at the World Trade Organization. Fowdar previously served as the Ministry of Training, Skills, Development, Productivity and External Communications of Mauritius in the cabinet of Sir Anerood Jugnauth from 2000 to 2003 and Paul Berenger from 2003 to 2005. He was first elected as member of parliament for Flacq & Bon Accueil in 2000, the constituency of former Vice-Prime Minister Anil Bachoo, where he was a Cabinet Minister. Fowdar was educated at EW Fact in Holborn, London.
The Best Loser System (BLS) refers to the method used in Mauritius since the 1950s to guarantee ethnic representation across the entire electorate in the National Assembly without organising the representation wholly by ethnicity.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 10 November 2024. The election was called after the government reached a deal with the United Kingdom to end the Chagos Archipelago dispute. Shortly before the election, a wire-tapping scandal surfaced. The government responded by implementing a social media ban that was to last until after the election but was instead lifted a day later following public outcry. Alliances that contested the election include Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth's Alliance Lepep and former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam's Alliance du Changement. Key campaign issues included the cost of living, crime and corruption. A total of 1,002,857 registered voters were eligible to vote. Votes were counted on 11 November, with turnout at 79%.
Alliance Lepep is a coalition of parties in the island state of Mauritius.
Rezistans ek Alternativ is a political party in Mauritius founded on 20 November 2016.
Khushal Lobine, more commonly known as Kushal Lobine is a Mauritian politician.
Ashok Subron is a Mauritian politician and the leader of Rezistans ek Alternativ. He has been elected in constituency No. 4 in the Mauritius general elections 2024.
