Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an Indian Ocean island country, approximately 2,000 kilometres off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island, as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion, are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where most of the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering 2,300,000 square kilometres. Mauritius is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
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.
Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with its hub based at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The company was placed in voluntary administration on 22 April 2020 in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and exited administration mid-2021.
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 and served as such 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 longest serving prime minister with more than 18 years of tenure overtaking Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who held the office for 14 years.
Nepotism is the act of granting an advantage, privilege, or position to relatives or close friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to: business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion, and other activities. The term originated with the assignment of nephews to important positions by Catholic popes and bishops.
The president of the Republic of Mauritius is the head of state of the Republic of Mauritius. Mauritius is a parliamentary republic, and the president functions as a ceremonial figurehead, elected by the National Assembly as set out by the Constitution of Mauritius. The current office-holder is Prithvirajsing Roopun. He took the office on 2 December 2019. The president's official residence is the State House.
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the Modi Cabinet.
Walter Seff Isaacson is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time.
John Dramani Mahama is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as president on 24 July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Evans Fiifi Attah Mills.
Richard Bruce Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U.S. vice president, following the death of Walter Mondale in 2021.
Abdool Raouf Bundhun who served as the third vice president of Mauritius from 2002 to 2007. He was elected by National Assembly of Mauritius on 25 February 2002 for a term of five years. Prior to assuming office he had been Mauritius' ambassador to France. He has also been the member of National Assembly of Mauritius for two terms; from 1967 to 1976 and 1995 to 2000. From 1969 to 1975 he had been the Minister for youth and sports and appointed parliamentary secretary by Seewoosagur Ramgoolam in 1969. In 1976 he became the minister of energy of Mauritius. He has chaired the Development Works Corporation.
Angidi Verriah Chettiar CBE was a Mauritian politician who served twice as the second vice president of Mauritius until his death in September 2010.
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is a Mauritian politician serving as the prime minister of Mauritius since January 2017. Jugnauth has been the leader of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) party since April 2003. He has held a number of ministerial portfolios and also been Leader of the Opposition.
Agnès Monique Ohsan Bellepeau GOSK is a Mauritian politician and was the fourth vice president of Mauritius from November 2010 to April 2016. She was acting president of Mauritius from 31 March 2012 to 21 July 2012 when Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigned up to the inauguration of Kailash Purryag to the office. She was again acting president from 29 May 2015 to 5 June 2015 when Kailash Purryag resigned up to the inauguration of Ameenah Gurib to the office.
Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 14th vice president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis is an Indian politician who is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 30 June 2022 alongside Ajit Pawar who was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the 5th time on 2 July 2023. He also served as the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 31 October 2014 to 12 November 2019, Leader of the Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2022 and the President of BJP, Maharashtra state unit from 2013 to 2015. Having been sworn in at the age of 44, he is the second-youngest Chief Minister in Maharashtra's history after Sharad Pawar. He served a 5-day long second term as Chief Minister during the 2019 Maharashtra political crisis, before resigning on 28 November 2019. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Fadnavis has represented the Nagpur South West constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 2009 and Nagpur West from 1999 to 2009. He was also Mayor of Nagpur from 1997 to 2001.
Dr. Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-FakimGCSK is a Mauritian politician and biodiversity scientist who served as the sixth president of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018. In December 2014, she was selected to be the presidential candidate of the Alliance Lepep. After Kailash Purryag resigned on 29 May 2015, both Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth and Leader of the Opposition Paul Berenger positively welcomed her nomination, which was unanimously approved in a vote in the National Assembly.
The cinema of Mauritius does not have a long-established and continuous tradition and organization. However, there have been recent efforts to encourage international filmmakers to shoot on the island and establish an indigenous film industry. Both Western and Indian movies are watched by Mauritians.
Marc France Eddy Balancy is a Mauritian attorney general and politician. He served as acting president of Mauritius between 26 November and 2 December 2019.
