Politics of Mauritius (french: Politique à Maurice) takes place in a framework of a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose go ...

. The separation of powers is among the three branches of the

Government of Mauritius The Government of Mauritius () is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Mauritius. The head of the Government is the Prime Minister of Mauritius, who manages the main agenda of the Government and direct the ministers. The ...

, namely the

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

, the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive d ...

and the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, is embedded in the Constitution of Mauritius. Being a Westminster system of government, Mauritius's

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

house of parliament officially, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, 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 A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

while the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

has full

executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political system ...

and is the

Head of Government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a g ...

who is assisted by a

council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

. Mauritius has a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

. Historically, Mauritius's government has been led by the Labour Party or the MSM for the exception of short periods from 1982 to 1983 and 2003–2005 where the MMM was at the head of the country. L'Alliance Lepep, a coalition of several political parties including MSM, Muvmen Liberater and PMSD, won the 2014 elections. Two years into the political term, the PMSD announced their resignation from the coalition government on 19 December 2016, and joined the ranks of the opposition. On 23 January 2017, the then Prime Minister, 86-year-old Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, a key political figure in Mauritian politics who has previously served several political terms spanning over many decades, announced that he was stepping down as Prime Minister. Following the Westminster tradition, the leader of the governing party (MSM party) in the coalition government, Pravind Jugnauth who is Sir Aneerood Jugnauth's son and then Minister of Finance, was sworn in as Prime Minister. Although Sir Aneerood Jugnauth resigned as Prime Minister, he is still serving as Minister Mentor, Minister of Defence, Minister for Rodrigues. Mauritius' ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won more than half of the seats in 2019 parliamentary election, securing incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a new five-year term.

Legislative branch

The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms. They form part along with the Speaker of the National Assembly, the legislative offices which under the constitution have the final decision and last word on any legislative matter including the laws of Mauritius. Most of the work is executed by the Executive Branch which consists of the

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and also other members of the parliament.

Executive branch

Another important structure of the government of Mauritius is the executive branch. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president and is responsible to the National Assembly. The

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister. The Council of Ministers (cabinet), responsible for the direction and control of the government, consists of the prime minister (head of government), the leader of the majority party in the legislature, and about 24 ministers including one Deputy Prime Minister and/or one Vice Prime Minister. The Executive branch being with the Cabinet have 4 most powerful executive offices, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and 2 offices of Vice Prime Minister. They have the executive power and authority over the cabinet and also help the Prime Minister in his tasks and responsibilities. , President ,

Prithvirajsing Roopun Prithvirajsing Roopun () GCSK (born 24 May 1959), also known as Pradeep Singh Roopun, is a Mauritian politician serving as the seventh president of Mauritius since 2019. Early life, education, career and family life Prithvirajsing Roopun was b ...

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, 2 December 2019 , - ,

Pravind Jugnauth Pravind Kumar Jugnauth (born 25 December 1961) 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 ...

, Militant Socialist Movement , 23 January 2017

Power sharing

In Mauritius, Prime Minister enjoys significant power whereas the President has a mostly ceremonial role. The President as head of state resides in a historical Chateau laid on 220 hectares of land and the Prime Minister resides in the much smaller Clarisse House. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister is the chief executive. He is responsible for any bill sent to the President from the assembly. He presides over all cabinet ministers and is the first adviser of the President. He is the head of government and it is on his advice that the President shall appoint any person in the government.

Order of precedence

This is a list of ceremonial precedence for the Mauritian government: # The President # The Prime Minister # The Vice President # The Deputy Prime Minister # The Chief Justice # The Speaker of the National Assembly # The Leader of the Opposition # The Former Presidents, Former Governor-Generals and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

# The Former Prime Minister # The Vice Prime Ministers # The Ministers # The Former Vice President # The Government Chief Whip # The Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues # The Parliamentary Private Secretaries # The Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service # Financial Secretary/Secretary for Home Affairs/Secretary for Foreign Affairs # Dean of the Diplomatic Corps/Heads and Acting Heads of Diplomatic # Missions/Representatives of International and Regional Organisations # The Senior Puisne Judge # The Solicitor General/Puisne Judges/Senior Chief Executives # The Chief of Protocol # The Commissioner of Police # The Permanent Secretaries/Ambassadors/Secretary to President # The Deputy Speaker/Members of the National Assembly # The Heads of Religious Bodies # Holders of G.O.S.K. and/or persons knighted by the Queen # Lord Mayor of Port-Louis/Mayors/Chairpersons of District Councils # Consul General/Consuls/Honorary Consuls General/Honorary Consuls

Judicial branch

Mauritian law is an amalgam of French and British legal traditions. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions ...

—a chief justice and five other judges—is the highest local judicial authority. There is an additional higher right of

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

have been located in Mauritius since the end of 2008, as part of a plan to lower the costs of appeal. The present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is, Rehana Mungly-Gulbul who succeeded Ashraf Caunhye in 2021.

References