Mauritius opposition wins 62.6% of votes, sweeps parliament

Port Louis — Mauritius’ opposition Alliance du Changement (ADC) coalition led by veteran politician Navin Ramgoolam won 62.6% of votes in the country’s general election, securing a near clean sweep of seats in parliament, the election commission said on Tuesday.

The ADC won 60 of the 62 national assembly seats in Sunday’s election, state broadcaster Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation reported, clinching three-time former premier Ramgoolam a fourth term as prime minister.

Ramgoolam, 77, said that his first act in office would be to dismantle what he called the country’s spying system “so that Mauritians will be free to talk”.

“We will also work to put an end to the rising cost of living for the population by better monitoring the value of the rupee, lifting VAT on basic commodities, and vanquishing nepotism, corruption and repression,” Ramgoolam told reporters.

Despite steering the Indian Ocean archipelago to 7.0% economic growth last year, incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth’s popularity appeared to have badly dented by a cost of living crisis and corruption allegations.

Jugnauth conceded on Monday, saying he tried to do what he could for the country’s 1.3-million people, but that his Alliance Lepep coalition was heading for a huge defeat.

Last month Jugnauth, who has been in office since 2017, negotiated an agreement for Britain to cede the Chagos Islands while retaining the US-UK Diego Garcia airbase.

Jugnauth’s Alliance Lepep won 27.8% of the vote, according to a tally of results released by the Office of the Electoral Commissioner (OEC).

On the island of Rodrigues, which is allotted two seats in Mauritius’ parliament, the Organisation du Peuple de Rodrigues (OPR) won 50.0% of the vote, the OEC said.

Earlier this month, Jugnauth’s government blocked social media platforms until a day after the election, citing national security concerns after conversations between public figures were leaked. It lifted the ban a day later.

Reuters