General elections were held in Mauritius on 11 September 2000 to elect the members of the National Assembly.
The opposition Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) party decisively won the elections in coalition with the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), defeating the governing Mauritian Labour Party (MLP) led coalition. They formed together the MSM/MMM As a result, in a pre-election deal Anerood Jugnauth of the Militant Socialist Movement became Prime Minister of Mauritius before handing over to Paul Bérenger of the Mauritian Militant Movement in 2003.
Background The Labour Party led by Navin Ramgoolam had governed Mauritius since winning the 1995 election. A new election had to be held by December 2000 and Ramgoolam dissolved parliament to call the election on 11 August 2000. He expected to be able to win the election in a three-way contest with the Mauritian Militant Movement and Militant Socialist Movement parties splitting the opposition vote between them. However ten days after the election was called the two main opposition parties agreed a deal.
The MSM led by Anerood Jugnauth and MMM led by Paul Bérenger agreed that if they won the election Jugnauth would become prime minister. They agreed that after three years he would step down as prime minister to become the president of Mauritius with enhanced powers, and that Bérenger would become prime minister, the first non-Hindu to do so.
Electoral system The election was conducted under the first past the post system with three Members of parliament being elected from each of 20 mainland constituencies. A further two MPs were elected from the island of Rodrigues. Each voter was required to vote for three candidates with the possibility of panachage. Once these 62 MPs were decided the Supervisory Electoral Commission chose the eight 'best losers' to prevent any ethnic community or political party from being underrepresented. The Commission chose four MPs to balance the ethnic groups (Hindus, Muslims, Chinese and general population) and another four to balance the political parties. The 'best losers' could only come from candidates who came fourth in the 20 mainland constituencies.
Campaign There were 43 parties putting forth 535 candidates but the main contest was between the two main coalitions that campaigned on similar platforms with the economy being the dominant election issue. The governing Mauritian Labour Party promised to raise civil servants' wages and reduce the prices of drinks while the main opposition attacked corruption. Both the government and opposition parties pledged to create 70,000 jobs.
The campaign was peaceful and election day was quiet with the sale or serving of alcohol banned for two days during the election to prevent trouble. Observers from the Southern African Development Community praised the election for its efficient and fair conduct and the high turnout. The opposition Mauritian Militant Movement and Militant Socialist Movement parties won a decisive victory almost wiping out the governing party and the Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam admitted defeat the day after the election. Gender activists were disappointed with the results which saw only four seats won by women, a decline on the previous election in 1995.
Results
By constituency Constituency MP Party Notes 1 Grand River North West–Port Louis West Jean-Claude Barbier Reelected Arianne Navarre-Marie Reelected Jean-Claude Armance Elected James Burty David Best Loser; Reelected 2 Port Louis South–Port Louis Central Emmanuel Leung Shing Elected Rashid Beebeejaun Reelected Sahid Maudarbocus Elected Ahmad Jeewah Best Loser; Reelected 3 Port Louis Maritime–Port Louis East Sam Lauthan Reelected Siddick Chady Reelected Mohammad Nanchuck Reelected Anwar Oomar Best Loser 4 Port Louis North–Montagne Longue Meckduth Chumroo Elected Gérard Grivon Elected Joe Lesjongard Elected 5 Pamplemousses–Triolet Navin Ramgoolam Reelected Jyaneshwur Jhurry Elected Devendranath Hurnam Elected 6 Grand Baie–Poudre D'Or Pradeep Jeeha Reelected Ashit Gungah Elected Madan Dulloo Elected 7 Piton–Riviere du Rempart Anerood Jugnauth Elected Balkissoon Hookoom Elected Jai Prakash Meenowa Reelected Ravi Yerrigadoo Best Loser 8 Quartier Militaire–Moka Parmessur Ramloll Elected Ashok Jugnauth Elected Deven Nagalingum Elected 9 Flacq–Bon Accueil Anil Bachoo Elected Sangeet Fowdar Elected Prem Koonjoo Elected 10 Montagne Blanche–Grand River South East Mookhesswur Choonee Elected Ajay Gunness Elected Rashad Daureeawoo Elected 11 Vieux Grand Port–Rose Belle Pravind Jugnauth Elected Arvin Boolell Reelected Rajesh Bhowon Elected Motee Ramdass Best Loser 12 Mahebourg–Plaine Magnien Anil Gayan Elected Soudesh Roopun Elected Ivan Collendavelloo Elected 13 Riviere des Anguilles–Souillac Hurreeprem Aumeer Elected Abdool Nasser Issimdar Elected Veda Baloomoody Reelected 14 Savanne–Black River Alan Ganoo Reelected José Arunasalom Reelected Prithvirajsing Roopun Elected 15 La Caverne–Phoenix Leela Dookun-Luchoomun Elected Steven Obeegadoo Reelected Showkutally Soodhun Elected 16 Vacoas–Floreal Nando Bodha Elected Sewram Sakaram Reelected Sylvio Michel Elected 17 Curepipe–Midlands Éric Guimbeau Elected Gérard Paya Elected Sunil Dowarkasing Elected Xavier-Luc Duval Best Loser 18 Belle Rose–Quatre Bornes Sushil Khushiram Elected Prithviraj Putten Elected Danielle Perrier Reelected 19 Stanley–Rose Hill Paul Bérenger Reelected Jayen Cuttaree Reelected Feroz Abdoola Elected 20 Beau Bassin–Petite Riviere Rajesh Bhagwan Reelected Françoise Labelle Elected Maurice Allet Elected 21 Rodrigues Alex Nancy Reelected Serge Clair Reelected Nicolas Von Mally Best Loser; Reelected Christian Leopold Best Loser Source: Government of Mauritius
References
External links Full results of the election