The ''Union Démocratique Mauricienne'' (UDM) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

History

In 1969 the ''Union Démocratique Mauricienne'' (UDM) was founded by barrister and politician Guy Ollivry and other members of the Legislative Assembly following their resignation from the

Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate The Mauritian Social Democratic Party (PMSD, ), also known as the Mauritian Conservative Party, is a political party in Mauritius. Conservative and Francophilic, the PMSD is the fourth biggest political party in the National Assembly and current ...

(PMSD). Other prominent figures who left the PMSD to join the newly-formed UDM were Raymond Rivet and

Maurice Lesage Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

. They refused to support PMSD's leader

Gaëtan Duval Sir Charles Gaëtan Duval QC (9 October 1930 – 5 May 1996) was a Mauritian barrister, statesman, and politician, who was the leader of the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD) political party. Early life and education Duval was born in ...

's decision to move, without elections, from Opposition to the ailing government led by

Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (18 September 1900 – 15 December 1985), often referred to as Chacha "Uncle" Ramgoolam or SSR, was a Mauritian physician, politician, and wikt:statesman, statesman. He served as the island's only chief minister, first ...

who had lost the support of

Sookdeo Bissoondoyal Sookdeo Bissoondoyal (25 December 1908 – 18 August 1977) was a Mauritian politician and one of the leading figures in the nation's independence movement. Early life Sookdeo Bissoondoyal was born in Tyack, Rivière des Anguilles in 1908. He h ...

's IFB.

Innovations

Before the dissolution of Ollivry's party in 1995 it campaigned for electoral reform, proportional representation, as well as share ownership of workers in each enterprise.

Electoral success

''Union Démocratique Mauricienne'' presented a large number of candidates at the 1976 Legislative Assembly elections, collecting 1.03% of votes but no UDM candidate was elected. At the 1982 General Elections the UDM's candidates collected 0.11% of votes but none of them was elected.

Controversies

In 2005 during investigations by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on the embezzlement of nearly Rs 1 Billion from Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) to the detriment of the National Pensions Fund (NPF) by masterminds Teeren Appasamy, Robert Lesage, Dev Manraj, Renu Manraj, Thierry Sauzier and others, donations made to UDM came to light. Teeren Appasamy's associate Donald Ha Yeung revealed to ICAC that Rs 1 Million was used in an attempt to revive Guy Ollivry's defunct party UDM. In addition they also financed the Labour Party's congresses, a short-lived propagandist newspaper ''L'Indépendant'', commemoration of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam's birthday (Rs 0.9 Million), as well as air tickets for Navin Ramgoolam's travels. Appasamy's contact within the Labour Party was Navin Ramgoolam's Finance Minister Vasant Bunwaree.

References

Political parties in Mauritius Conservative parties in Africa Right-wing parties Political parties established in 1969 {{Africa-party-stub