Labour Party (Mauritius)

Labour Party Parti Travailliste
Abbreviation	PTR
Leader	Navin Ramgoolam
President	Patrick Assirvaden
General Secretary	Kalyanee Juggoo
Spokesperson	Arvin Boolell
Founder	Dr Maurice Curé
Slogan	Un Peuple Uni Un Pays Moderne A United Nation A Modern Country
Founded	23 February 1936
Headquarters	Square Guy Rozemont, Port Louis
Newspaper	Advance
Youth wing	Young Labour
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	Alliance de l'unité et de la modernité
International affiliation	Socialist International
Colors	Red
National Assembly of Mauritius	4 / 69
Website
www.labourparty.mu
Politics of Mauritius Political parties Elections

The Labour Party (PTR; French: Parti Travailliste) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius, and one of the three main Mauritian political parties along with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) and the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM). Part of the Labour Party-MMM alliance, it has 4 Mps directly elected in the general election of 2014. The party is led by Navin Ramgoolam. Founded in 1936, the party was in power from 1948 to 1982, from 1995 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2014. From 1983 to 1990, it formed part of a coalition government as a minority partner.

The Labour Party was founded in 1936 by Maurice Cure based on the British Labour Party with the vision and determination to protect workers' rights and freedoms, including compensation, and a higher wage rate with paid leave. The movement was encouraged by 55 conferences held by the leaders of the party throughout the country. Among other goals were the initial resolutions to obtain suffrage for the working class, representation in the Legislative Council, the organization of a Department of Labour, the prohibition of capitalist exploitation of sugar plantations, as well as the overall implementation of socialist values among Mauritian government agencies.

The founders of the Mauritian Labour Party were Cure, Jean Prosper, Mamode Assenjee, Hassenjee Jeetoo, Barthelemy Ohsan, Samuel Barbe, Emmanuel Anquetil, Godefroy Moutia, and Pandit Sahadeo. The Labour Party remains the oldest major political party in the Republic. Since independence, it governed, either alone or in a coalition, from 1968 to 1982, led by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, and again from 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2014, led by Navin Ramgoolam, son of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.

When Cure was forced to step down as President of the Labour Party in 1941, Anquetil took over.^[1][2] Anquetil died in December 1946,^[3] and Guy Rozemont became the leader of the party until his death in 1956 at the age of forty-one.

The arrival of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam in 1958 marked an important step in the history of the party. He was in favour of an independent Mauritius within the Commonwealth of Nations. Following the victory of the Labour Party in the general election of 1967, a constitutional agreement was made in Parliament following numerous conferences in Lancaster and London, United Kingdom. The coalition government, including the Labour Party, Independent Forward Block & Muslim Action Committee sealed the pact for Independence. Then Labour Party, now led by Ramgoolam, along with Veerasamy Ringadoo, Satcam Boolell, and Harold Walter, in coalition with the Muslim Action Committee led by Abdool Razack Mohamed and the Independent Forward Block led by the Bissoundoyal brothers, Lall Jugnauth and Anerood Jugnauth, pushed a motion in the Legislative Council to provide for an independent country to be declared on March, 12th 1968.

The Labour Party joined forces with the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD) of Gaetan Duval in 1969 to form a coalition government. In December 1976, Labour won only 28 seats out of 70, as opposed to 34 for the Martian Militant Movement (MMM) led by Paul Berenger and Harish Boodhoo, but remained in power by forming another alliance with the PMSD. In 1982, however, the MMM won outright and Ramgoolam lost his directly elected parliamentary seat. Anerood Jugnauth of the MMM became Prime Minister. From 1983 through 1995, the Labour Party attracted little electoral support, and in 1984, Satcam Boolell, who had replaced Ramgoolam as party leader, agreed to an electoral alliance with the Militant Socialist Movement, which had broken away from the MMM.

In 1995 the Labour Party returned to power with the support of the MMM and Navin Ramgoolam, who had taken over the party leadership in 1991, became Prime Minister. It lost the subsequent legislative election in 2000, however; its coalition with the Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval secured only 36.6% of the popular vote and eight out of 70 seats.

The Labour Party returned to power in the 2005 elections as part of the Alliance Sociale, which won 42 out of 70 seats. In the general election of 2010, the party formed the majority of L'Alliance de L'Avenir, which regrouped the Mauritius Labour Party, the MSM and the PMSD. The Alliance de L'Avenir won the general election with 41 seats against 18 seats for MMM-led L'Alliance du Coeur one seat by the FSM. However, on 6 August 2011 the Alliance broke down, leaving only the Mauritius Labour Party, the PMSD and the Republican Movement (MR) in the government.

The modern goals of the Mauritian Labour Party are to guarantee equal opportunity to all citizens regardless of race, religion, sex, or class and to secure a healthy and clean environment for future generations.

Parliament results

Election	Number of candidates	Number of overall seats won	Position	Leader	Position
1967	35 / 60	24 / 70	1st	Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	Prime Minister
1976	60 / 60	28 / 70	2nd	Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	Prime Minister
1982	60 / 60	0 / 70	None	Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	None
1983	15 / 60	9 / 70	3rd	Sir Satcam Boolell	Minister of Foreign Affairs
1987	15 / 60	8 / 70	3rd	Sir Satcam Boolell	Minister of Foreign Affairs
1991	35 / 60	3 / 70	3rd	Navin Ramgoolam	Leader of the Opposition
1995	35 / 70	35 / 70	1st	Navin Ramgoolam	Prime Minister
2000	50 / 60	8 / 70	3rd	Navin Ramgoolam	Leader of the Opposition
2005	45 / 60	32 / 70	1st	Navin Ramgoolam	Prime Minister
2010	35 / 60	28 / 70	1st	Navin Ramgoolam	Prime Minister
2014	30 / 60	4 / 69	5th	Navin Ramgoolam	None

References

1. Boolell Q.C, Sir Satcam (2006). Untold Stories, A collection of Socio-Political Essays. ISBN 9990305315.
2. Mauritius in the making across the censuses 1846-200, Monique Dinan
3. Story of the Independence of Mauritius, M. Chintamunnee

See also

• Official website (French)