Ruling party suffers ‘huge’ defeat in East African state

The Mauritian opposition party Alliance for Change has won the East African nation’s parliamentary elections by a landslide, securing all seats in the National Assembly, its leader Navin Ramgoolam has announced.

Ramgoolam’s victory claim came after the Indian Ocean archipelago’s Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth (PKJ) said his coalition, L’Alliance Lepep, was set for a “huge defeat” in Sunday’s election.

According to results released across the country on Monday and cited by the Associated Press, the ruling party did not win any of the 62 seats up for grab. The parliament of Mauritius has 70 members, 62 of whom are directly elected, including two seats from Rodrigues Island. The remaining eight are appointed by the Electoral Supervisory Commission under the “best losers” system to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are fairly represented.

Speaking to jubilant supporters on Tuesday, opposition leader Ramgoolam said his coalition had swept the parliamentary seats and called on his rival Jugnauth to resign.

“I hope PKJ resigns soon. He was beaten 60-0,” AFP cited the 77-year-old politician as saying. “The power of the people is stronger than a dictatorship,” he reportedly added.

Ramgoolam will return to office as the country’s prime minister following his party’s victory, having previously served twice, from 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2014. He has pledged to raise pensions, provide free transportation and internet services, and lower fuel prices in the wake of a cost-of-living crisis that has been a major source of concern for Mauritians.

While the official results have not yet been announced, some leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, have congratulated Ramgoolam on his “historic electoral victory.”

“I wished him great success in leading Mauritius and extended an invitation to visit India. Look forward to working closely together to strengthen our special and unique partnership,” Modi wrote on X on Monday.

The current government, led by Jugnauth, had planned to raise minimum wages, increase pensions, and lower value-added taxes on certain goods. Last month, it negotiated an agreement for Britain to hand over ownership of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius. The cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean had been under British authority for more than 50 years.

Jugnauth, who has been in office since 2017, was seeking reelection for a second five-year term, but his administration has been accused of corruption after recordings of politicians and business owners were leaked online days before the elections. On Monday, he told reporters that “the population has decided to choose another team.”

According to election commission data, approximately 79% of the former British colony’s more than 1 million registered voters cast ballots.

You can share this story on social media:

Follow RT on