Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Mauritius | |
---|---|
Chef de l'opposition | |
since 15 April 2024 | |
Style | The Honourable |
Reports to | The President of the Republic of Mauritius |
Appointer | The President of the Republic of Mauritius |
Term length | While leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government |
Inaugural holder | Sir Gaëtan Duval |
Formation | 12 March 1968 |
Salary | Rs 1.9 Million |
Constitution |
---|
The Leader of the Opposition (French : Leader de l'opposition) of the Republic of Mauritius is the Member of Parliament who leads the Official Opposition in Mauritius. The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government.
This office is a constitutional one guaranteed by the laws of the country. The incumbent officeholder automatically becomes 7th in the order of precedence. The current Leader of the Opposition is Shakeel Mohamed who was appointed on April 15, 2024.
The political party or party alliance which wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government and its leader usually becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister selects the members of the composition of the Cabinet from elected members of the Assembly, except for the Attorney General who may not be an elected member of the Assembly. The political party or alliance which has the second-largest majority forms the Official Opposition and its leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition. [1]
According to Section 73 of the Constitution of Mauritius, there shall be a Leader of the Opposition who shall be appointed by the President, where the President has occasion to appoint a Leader of the Opposition, he shall in his own deliberate judgment appoint –
(a) where there is one opposition party whose numerical strength in the Assembly is greater than the strength of any other opposition party, the member of the Assembly who is the leader in the Assembly of that party; or
(b) where there is no such party, the member of the Assembly whose appointment would, in the judgment of the President, be most acceptable to the leaders in the Assembly of the opposition parties:
Provided that, where occasion arises for making an appointment while Parliament is dissolved, a person who was a member of the Assembly immediately before the dissolution may be appointed Leader of the Opposition. [2]
No. | Leader (Birth–Death) | Portrait | Tenure | Elected | Political affiliation | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | ||||||
Mauritius (1968–1992) | |||||||
1. | Sir Gaëtan Duval (1930–1996) | 7 August 1967 | 23 December 1969 | 1967 | Mauritian Social Democrat Party | ||
2. | Maurice Lesage (1923–1992) [3] | 1969 | October 1973 | Union Démocratique Mauricienne (UDM) (splinter group of the PMSD) | |||
3. | Sookdeo Bissoondoyal (1907–1977) | 23 October 1973 | 23 December 1976 | Independent Forward Bloc (IFB) | |||
4. | Sir Anerood Jugnauth (1930–2021) | 23 December 1976 | 11 June 1982 | 1976 | Mauritian Militant Movement | ||
(1) | Sir Gaëtan Duval (1930–1996) | 11 June 1982 | 21 August 1983 | 1982 | Mauritian Social Democrat Party | ||
5. | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 21 August 1983 | 15 September 1987 | 1983 | Mauritian Militant Movement | ||
6. | Prem Nababsing (1940–2017) | 15 September 1987 | 15 September 1991 | 1987 | |||
7. | Dr. Navin Ramgoolam (born 1947) | 15 September 1991 | Continued | 1991 | Labour Party | ||
Republic of Mauritius (from 12 March 1992 onwards) | |||||||
7. | Dr. Navin Ramgoolam (born 1947) | Continued | 20 December 1995 | Labour Party | |||
8. | Nicholas Von Mally | 20 December 1995 | 11 September 1997 | 1995 | Rodrigues Movement | ||
(5) | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 11 September 1997 | 11 September 2000 | Mauritian Militant Movement | |||
(7) | Dr. Navin Ramgoolam (born 1947) | 11 September 2000 | 5 July 2005 | 2000 | Labour Party | ||
(5) | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 5 July 2005 | 4 April 2006 | 2005 | Mauritian Militant Movement | ||
9. | Nando Bodha (born 1954) | 4 April 2006 | 27 September 2007 | Militant Socialist Movement | |||
(5) | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 27 September 2007 | 23 January 2013 | 2010 | Mauritian Militant Movement | ||
10. | Alan Ganoo (born 1951) | 23 January 2013 | 1 October 2013 | Mauritian Militant Movement | |||
(5) | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 1 October 2013 | 15 September 2014 | Mauritian Militant Movement | |||
11. | Pravind Jugnauth (born 1961) | 15 September 2014 | 17 December 2014 | Militant Socialist Movement | |||
(5) | Paul Bérenger (born 1945) | 17 December 2014 | 20 December 2016 | 2014 | Mauritian Militant Movement | ||
12. | Xavier-Luc Duval (born 1958) | 20 December 2016 | 14 November 2019 | Mauritian Social Democrat Party | |||
13. | Arvin Boolell (born 1953) | 14 November 2019 | 1 March 2021 | 2019 | Labour Party | ||
(12) | Xavier-Luc Duval (born 1958) | 4 March 2021 | 15 April 2024 | Mauritian Social Democrat Party | |||
14. | Shakeel Mohamed (born 1968) | 15 April 2024 | Incumbent | Labour Party |
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 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.
The Mouvement Militant Mauricien 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 12 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.
The Mauritian Social Democratic Party, also known as the Mauritian Conservative Party, is a political party in Mauritius. Conservative and Francophilic, the PMSD is the fourth biggest political party in the National Assembly and currently forms part of the opposition.
The Militant Socialist Movement is a centre-left political party in Mauritius. It is the single largest political party in the National Assembly of Mauritius, having won 42 of the 69 seats in the 2019 general elections. It also holds the largest number of seats in all city/town councils through the country with 60 councillors out of 120. The party tends to be more popular amongst Indo-Mauritians.
The prime minister of Mauritius is the head of government of Mauritius. He presides over the Cabinet of Ministers, which advises the president of the country and is collectively responsible to the National Assembly for any advice given and for all action done by or under the authority of any minister in the execution of his office.
The National Assembly is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly from 1968 until 1992, when the country became a republic. Prior to 1968 and under British rule it was known as the Legislative Council. The Constitution of Mauritius provides for the parliament of Mauritius to consist of the President and the National Assembly. The parliament of Mauritius is modelled after the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, where members of parliament are voted in at regular general elections, on the basis of a first past the post system. The working language of the National Assembly is English.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 11 September 2000 to elect the members of the National Assembly.
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.
The Militant Socialist Movement/Mauritian Militant Movement (MSM/MMM) is coalition party that formed the government of the Republic of Mauritius from September 2000 to July 2005. The coalition has been reformed in April 2012 after an electoral agreement between the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) was made with Sir Anerood Jugnauth as leader. The agreements remain the same, 30 seats for the MMM and 30 seats for the MSM. It has also been conveyed that SAJ would be prime minister for 3 years and Paul Berenger would take over for the rest of the parliamentary term if the coalition wins the next general elections. It has also been agreed that Pravind Jugnauth who is leader of the MSM will not be in the Front Bench of the coalition in an eventual government of the MSM/MMM. This is because he has been provisionally charged with using office for gratification by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. He will therefore seat as a back-bencher until he is dismissed from all accusations.
The L'Alliance de L'avenir was a political alliance in Mauritius which was formed in 2010 for the next parliamentary elections which were held on 5 May 2010. It is an alliance of the Labour Party, Mouvement Socialiste Militant and Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate. It was formed by the prime minister Dr. Navin Ramgoolam and is led by three other people, namely Rashid Beebeejaun, Xavier-Luc Duval and Pravind Jugnauth.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Mauritius is the official council which advises the President of the Republic in the making of major decisions. It is led by the Prime Minister and a total of 23 ministers and the Attorney General, who is considered to be a cabinet member. The constitution of the Republic provides a cabinet under the leadership of the Prime Minister that must be appointed by the President after each general elections.
General elections were held in Mauritius on 21 August 1983. The result was a victory for an alliance of the Militant Socialist Movement, the Labour Party and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate, which between them won 46 seats. The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won 32 seats, whilst the Labour Party secured nine seats and PMSD five. This alliance allowed Jugnauth to continue as Prime Minister while bringing Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Gaetan Duval back into the government after their severe defeat in the 1982 elections. Shortly after, Ramgoolam was appointed as Governor General, Duval became Deputy Prime Minister and Satcam Boolell became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Voter turnout was 85%.
Nandcoomar Bodha MP is a Mauritian politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius. He was also the Minister of Tourism & Leisure of Mauritius. He has been holding the office since 11 May 2010 to 26 July 2011, He held the same office from 2000 to 2003 in the MSM/MMM coalition government. When Pravind Jugnauth was sworn as Deputy Prime Minister, he took the office of Minister of Agriculture in 2003 up to 2005.He was appointed 8th position in the Cabinet of Navin Ramgoolam.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius is a senior member of the Cabinet of Mauritius. The incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Louis Steven Obeegadoo was appointed by the President on 25th of June 2020 after the resignation of Ivan Collendavelloo. 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.
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.