General elections were held in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

on 20 December 1976. They were the first general elections to be held since independence on 12 March 1968 and came nine years after the previous elections in 1967. Although elections had been scheduled for 1972, they were cancelled by the Labour–PMSD–CAM coalition government due to political unrest. The year prior to these elections was marked by the

May 1975 Students protest riots The 1975 Mauritian student protest riots refer to a students' protest marches which turned violent in various parts of the island of Mauritius, Indian Ocean on Tuesday 20 May 1975. Peaceful beginnings and objectives Following detailed planning by ...

. The

Mauritian Militant Movement The Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) ( en, Mauritian Militant Movement) is a left-wing socialist political party in Mauritius. The party was formed by a group of students in the late 1960s. The MMM advocates what it sees as a "fairer" society, ...

won the most seats, but a coalition government was formed by the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

and the

Mauritian Social Democrat Party Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably I ...

. Around 400 candidates representing thirty-one parties contested the election, but only three parties won seats.

Electoral system

The voting system involved twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...

, and eight seats were filled by the "best losers". Voter turnout was 88%.Mauritius: 1976 Legislative Assembly election results
EISA

Results

References

External links

1976 Mauritian election day
British Pathe {{Mauritian elections Elections in Mauritius 1976 in Mauritius

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results