Mauritian general election, 1995

Mauritian general election, 1995

20 December 1995

All 70 seats in the National Assembly 35 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Navin Ramgoolam Sir Anerood Jugnauth Party Labour Party MSM Leader since 1991 1983 Leader's seat Pamplemousses and Triolet Piton & Riviere Du Rempart Last election 3 seats 57 seats Seats before 3 57 Seats won 60 0 Seat change 57 57 Popular vote 1,084,236 330,219 Percentage 65.2% 19.8 % Swing 25.9% 35.6%

Prime Minister before election Sir Anerood Jugnauth MSM Subsequent Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam Labour Party

General elections were held in Mauritius on 20 December 1995. The result was a victory for the Labour Party-Mauritian Militant Movement alliance led by Navin Ramgoolam,^[1] which won all 60 constituency seats on Mauritius. Along with 1982, it was one of two elections in which a party won every seat. The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) led by Anerood Jugnauth lost power after 13 years, with Jugnauth resigning two days after the results were announced. Navin Ramgoolam became Prime Minister and appointed Paul Berenger as Deputy Prime Minister.

Electoral system

The voting system involved twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of Rodrigues, and up to eight seats were filled by the "best losers",^[2] although only four were filled at this election. Voter turnout was 79.9%.^[3]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Constituency	Best-loser	Total
Labour Party-MMM*	1,084,236	65.2	60	0	60
MSM-MMR	330,219	19.8	0	0	0
Gaëtan Duval Party	105,282	6.3	0	1	1
MMP-HP	28,749	1.7	0	0	0
Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement	25,472	1.5	0	0	0
Rodrigues People's Organisation	16,631	1.0	2	0	2
Rodrigues Movement	9,529		0	2	2
Muslim People's Front	8,233	0.5	0	0	0
Liberal Democrats' Movement	6,848	0.4	0	0	0
Natural Law Party	4,074	0.2	0	0	0
Liberal Action Party	3,332	0.2	0	0	0
Mauritian People's Party	2,505	0.2	0	0	0
Mauritian Movement for Peace	1,630	0.1	0	0	0
Hizbullah	1,375	0.1	0	1	1
Movement for Justice	1,149	0.1	0	0	0
Mauritian Democratic Movement	859	0.1	0	0	0
Socialist Movement of the South	342	0.0	0	0	0
Hindu Etka Andolan Dul	307	0.0	0	0	0
Republican Movement	281	0.0	0	0	0
Mauritian Democracy	259	0.0	0	0	0
Mauritian Workers' Movement	212	0.0	0	0	0
Mauritius United Party	185	0.0	0	0	0
Mauritius Party Rights	100	0.0	0	0	0
Independents	32,007	1.9	0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	8,805	-	-	-	-
Total	567,810**	100	62	4	66
Source: EISA, IPU, Nohlen et al.

* Of the 60 seats, the Labour Party won 35 and the MMM 25.^[4]

** Total number of voters (voters could cast more than one vote).

References

1. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p618 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
2. Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election EISA
3. Mauritius: 1995 National Assembly election results EISA
4. Elections in Mauritius African Elections Database