Politics of Mayotte

The politics of Mayotte takes place in a framework of a French overseas region and department, which until 2011 was an overseas collectivity.

Local politics takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic setting, whereby the President of the General Council is the head of government, of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.

The status of Mayotte changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the départements of mainland France, with the particular designation of collectivité départementale , although the island is still claimed by the Comoros. This change was approved by 73% in a referendum on Mayotte. After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became a collectivité d'outre-mer while keeping the title collectivité départementale de Mayotte.

2009 referendum and effects

Main article: 2009 Mahoran status referendum

Mayotte became an overseas department of France (département d'outre-mer, DOM) on 31 March 2011 following the result of the March 2009 Mahoran status referendum, which was approved by around 95% of voters, with 61% of those eligible voting. ^[1]

In order to effectuate this referendum, several laws has to be updated to conform with French law. These included a ban on polygamy before it became a department, increases to Women's rights such as equal inheritance rights, and the minimum age to legally marry was raised from 15 to 18 years old. ^[1] The traditional Mayotte local court system, which combined Quranic principles of Islam with African and Malagasy customs, was phased out in favor of the French legal system. ^[1] Islamic law was abolished and replaced by uniform French civil code. ^[2]

Executive branch

Main article: Departmental Council of Mayotte § Presidents of the Council

The head of state is the President of France as represented by prefect Thierry Suquet.

The head of government is President of the General Council. Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani was President from 2 April 2015 to 1 July 2021. The current president is Ben Issa Ousseni, since 1 July 2021. He is a member of The Republicans. ^[3]

Legislative branch

The General Council (Conseil Général) has 19 members, elected for a three-year term in single seat constituencies.

Mayotte also sends two deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate. The deputies represent Mayotte's 1st constituency and Mayotte's 2nd constituency.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties in Mayotte. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Mayotte.

See also

• Politics of France

References

1. Bodin, Johan (29 March 2009). "Mayotte readies for referendum on overseas department status". France 24 . Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
2. Mayotte vote en faveur de la départementalisation, Le Monde, 29 March 2009 (in French)
3. Minas, Bruno (1 July 2021). "Ben Issa Ousseni est élu président du Conseil Départemental de Mayotte". France Info . Archived from the original on 28 June 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

Further reading

• Roinsard, Nicolas. Une situation postcoloniale-Mayotte ou le gouvernement des marges. CNRS éditions, 2022.
• Gros, D. (2023) . La fiction de la frontière : le cas de Mayotte. Plein droit, n° 139(4), 15–18. https://doi.org/10.3917/pld.139.0019.