Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius

Not to be confused with Vice-Prime Minister of Mauritius.

Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius
Premier Ministre adjoint de Maurice
Coat of arms of Mauritius
Incumbent Paul Bérenger since 22 November 2024
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Prime Minister of Mauritius
Appointer	President of Mauritius
Term length	At the President's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Harish Boodhoo
Formation	2 July 1982;42 years ago (1982-07-02)
Salary	Rs 2.5 Million [1]

The deputy prime minister of Mauritius (French : Premier ministre adjoint) is a senior member of the Cabinet of Mauritius. The deputy prime minister is the first in line to succeed the prime minister on a temporary basis in case the latter is out of the country, sick, resigns or dies suddenly. The office has existed before on an informal basis until its formal establishment under an amendment to the constitution in 1982. ^[2] Harish Boodhoo became the first person to hold the office in July 1982.

The incumbent holder of the office is Paul Bérenger, who has held the office twice before, and was appointed by the president on 22 November 2024 following the general election held in 2024. ^[3]

Constitutional position and duties

Under the Constitution of Mauritius, it provides for the establishment of the offices of prime minister and deputy prime minister, who are to be appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. ^[4]

The deputy prime minister is the first person to hold the office of prime minister and head of government in case the latter is absent from Mauritius or is by reason of illness or of section 60(5) unable to perform the functions conferred on him by the Constitution. The president, by directions in writing, authorize the deputy prime minister or, in his absence, some other minister to perform those functions and that minister may perform those functions (acting prime minister) until his authority is revoked by the president. ^[4] Before the establishment of the office in 1982, the constitution dictated that any minister appointed by the Govenor-General is authorised to exercise the functions of the office of prime minister until the Governor-General revokes such authority. ^[5]

Under convention, the deputy prime minister is always chosen from the second-most senior member of the government, typically the leader of second largest party under a coalition government. Although in the late 1980s, it became common for the prime minister to appoint honorary deputy prime ministers in addition to the existing holder of the constitutional deputy prime minister and holders of the office were usually senior members of the cabinet or another junior member party of the coalition government.

Title

Constitutionally, the office is referred to as Deputy Prime Minister under the 1982 amendment that established the office. ^[2] No formal legislation acknowledges or recognises an official French-translation for the office since English is the official language of law in Mauritius.

However, it was common to refer to the deputy prime minister in French-speaking media as vice-Premiére ministre and in English-speaking media as Vice Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister until the establishment of the separate office of Vice-Prime Minister in 2008. Hence, the deputy prime minister is referred nowadays in French-speaking media as Premiére ministre adjoint or simply referring to its English title whilst maintaining the French translation used before for the office of deputy prime minister instead to the Vice-Prime Minister.

List of deputy prime ministers

No.		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Tenure		Concurrent portfolio(s)	Party	Prime Minister
				Took office	Left office
1			Harish Boodhoo [6] [7] (born 1946)	2 July 1982	21 August 1983	Information and Cooperatives	PSM	A. Jugnauth
2			Sir Gaëtan Duval [8] [9] (1930–1996)	21 August 1983	4 September 1987	Attorney-General and Justice (1983–1986) Employment and Tourism (1986–1988)	PMSD
				4 September 1987	12 August 1988	Employment and Tourism
3			Sir Satcam Boolell [10] [11] (1920–2006)	15 August 1988	18 August 1990	External Affairs and Emigration Attorney-General and Justice	PTr
4			Prem Nababsing [12] [13] [14] [15] (1940–2017)	25 September 1990	27 September 1991	Health	MMM
				27 September 1991	27 December 1995	Health (1990–1993) Economic Planning and Development (1993–1995) Internal and External Communications (1994–1995) Information (1994–1995)
5			Paul Bérenger [16] [17] (born 1945)	30 December 1995	20 June 1997 [18]	Foreign Affairs, International and Regional Co-operation	MMM	N. Ramgoolam
6			Kailash Purryag (born 1947)	16 November 1997	17 September 2000	Foreign Affairs and International Trade	PTr
(5)			Paul Bérenger [19] (born 1945)	17 September 2000	30 September 2003	Finance	MMM	A. Jugnauth
7			Pravind Jugnauth [20] (born 1961)	30 September 2003	7 July 2005	Finance and Economic Development Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources (2000–2003)	MSM	Bérenger
8			Rashid Beebeejaun [21] (born 1934)	7 July 2005	10 May 2010	Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping (2005–2008) Renewable Energy and Public Utilities (2008–2010)	PTr	N. Ramgoolam
				10 May 2010 [22]	17 December 2014	Energy and Public Utilities
9			Xavier-Luc Duval [23] (born 1958)	17 December 2014	19 December 2016	Tourism and External Communications	PMSD	A. Jugnauth
10			Ivan Collendavelloo [23] (born 1950)	20 December 2016	12 November 2019	Energy and Public Utilities Tourism (until 24 January 2017)	ML
								P. Jugnauth
				12 November 2019 [24]	25 June 2020	Energy and Public Utilities
11			Louis Steven Obeegadoo [23] (born 1961)	25 June 2020	22 November 2024	Housing and Land Use Planning (from 2019) Tourism	PM
(5)			Paul Bérenger [3] (born 1945)	22 November 2024	Incumbent	Minister without portfolio	MMM	N. Ramgoolam

Honorary deputy prime ministers

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Tenure		Concurrent portfolio(s)	Party	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office
		Sir Abdool Razack Mohamed (1906–1978)	12 March 1968	20 December 1976		CAM	S. Ramgoolam
		Sir Satcam Boolell (1920–2006)	8 August 1986	15 August 1988	External Affairs and Emigration Attorney-General and Justice	PTr	A. Jugnauth
		Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo [25] [26] (born 1944)	30 September 1986	4 September 1987	Finance	MSM
			4 September 1987	18 August 1990
		Beergoonath Ghurburrun [14] [25] [26] (1928–2013)	15 August 1988 [10]	5 August 1991	Planning and Economic Development (from 1984)	PTr
		Cassam Uteem [25] [27] (born 1941)	1990	1991	Economic Planning and Development Industry and Industrial Technology	MMM

See also

• Africa portal
• Politics portal

• President of Mauritius
• Prime Minister of Mauritius
• Vice-Prime Minister of Mauritius
• Leader of the Opposition (Mauritius)
• Government of Mauritius

References

1. "Rapport du Pay Research Bureau – Les gros salaires avoisineront Rs 200 000" (in French). Le Défi Media Group. Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
2. "Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius (Amendment) Act (No. 2 of 1982): July 7, 1982". Oxford Constitutional Law. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
3. "Le nouveau cabinet ministériel en chiffres". defimedia.info (in French). Defimedia. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
4. "The Constitution" (PDF). Government of Mauritius. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
5. Revised Laws of Mauritius, 1981. Vol. 1. Attorney-General's Office. 1981. p. 30.
6. "Après le triomphe électorale de la gauche M. Aneerood Jugnauth est nommé premier ministre". lemonde.fr (in French). Le Monde . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
7. "First Constitutional Changes Introduced by the New Government". Le Mauricien. 7 July 1982. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via Sub-Saharan Africa Report, No. 2676, 17 August 1982, pp. 63-64.
8. "Jugnauth Announces New Government 4 Sep". AFP . 4 September 1987. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 8 September 1987, p. C1.
9. "Deputy Prime Minister Resigns Over Policies". Johannesburg International Service. 12 August 1988. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 18 August 1988, p. 6.
10. "Prime Minister Reshuffles Cabinet 15 Aug". Agence-France Presse . 15 August 1988. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 August 1988, p. 6.
11. Macgregor, J. (1989). "Africa Monitor: September–December 1988". Africa Insight. 19 (1): 55.
12. Hunter, B., ed. (1995). The Statesman's Year-Book 1995-96. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 939.
13. "Prime Minister Names New Government 27 Sep". AFP . 28 September 1991. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 30 September 1991, pp. 27-28.
14. "New Cabinet Members of Jugnauth Government". AFP . 25 September 1990. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 28 September 1990, p. 33.
15. Keesing's Record of World Events 1993. Vol. 39 (11). Avenel, US: Longman. 1993. p. 39725.
16. "Prime Minister Forms New Government". Radio France . 30 December 1995. Retrieved 16 February 2025– via FBIS Daily Report Sub-Saharan Africa, 4 January 1994, p. 9.
17. Hunter, B., ed. (1996). The Statesman's Year-Book 1996-97. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 887–888.
18. "Il y a 20 ans : le 21 juin 1997 -Révocation du vice Premier ministre Paul Bérenger". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
19. "New government sworn in". thenewhumanitarian.org. The New Humanitarian. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
20. "Dans la presse du… 1er Octobre 2003: Paul Bérenger devient Premier ministre". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
21. "Elected members of Legislative Election 2010". mauritiusassembly.govmu.org. Mauritius National Assembly. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
22. "Prestation de serment: Treize nouveaux ministres font leur entrée au gouvernement". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
23. "List of Honourable Members - National Assembly Elections 2019". mauritiusassembly.govmu.org. Mauritius National Assembly. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
24. "Prestation de serment: voici les nouveaux ministres". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
25. "Cassam Uteem : «Navin Ramgoolam m'a appelé…» | 5-Plus Dimanche". www.5plus.mu.
26. "Ces éventuels vice-Premier ministres proposés par l?Alliance sociale". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
27. "Cassam Uteem President of Republic of Mauritius, Club de Madrid Member". Club de Madrid.