In a major rejection of the current government, Mauritius’ opposition coalition has won the country’s election by a landslide, taking all seats in the country’s parliament.
Throughout Monday, the results released at various constituencies across the country showed that the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth failed to get any of the 62 seats available for voters to directly decide on.
Before the final results announcement, Jagnauth conceded defeat saying his Militant Socialist Movement coalition was headed for a huge defeat as it became clear that the opposition was winning in all of the country’s 21 constituencies.
Navin Ramgoolam will return as the country’s prime minister after the Alliance for Change coalition’s victory. Navin served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.
Jugnauth had been seeking another five-year term in the Indian Ocean island nation, after being in office since 2017 but his government faced corruption allegations after recordings of politicians and business people were leaked online.
“The population has decided to choose another team. I wish good luck to the country,” Jugnauth said on Monday.
Official results that will include two seats from Rodrigues Island are expected to be released Tuesday, but the opposition has already won all 60 seats that have been announced.
The Electoral Supervisory Council will nominate another eight lawmakers to make it a total of 70 parliamentary seats.
On Sunday, at least 1 million people were registered to vote in the 12th election since Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.
Mauritius, which sits about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) off Africa’s east coast, is recognized as one of the continent’s most stable democracies and has developed a successful economy underpinned by its finance, tourism, and agricultural sectors since gaining independence.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.