Mauritian Voters Hand Ramgoolam Fourth Term as Prime Minister

(Bloomberg) -- Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who served three terms as prime minister of Mauritius before being voted out a decade ago, reclaimed the top post after his four-party coalition won elections by a landslide.

Ramgoolam’s Alliance du Changement secured all the parliamentary seats in the Indian Ocean island nation’s 20 constituencies, the state-owned Mauritius Broadcasting Corp. reported. Incumbent leader Pravind Kumar Jugnauth conceded defeat on Monday after early results from the Oct. 10 vote showed his five-party Alliance Lepep coalition hemorrhaged support. 

Members of Jugnauth’s coalition got two of the four positions in the legislature that are allocated to lawmaker candidates from under-represented communities who secured the highest number of votes without directly winning a seat, according to the electoral commission. A date for the swearing in of the new premier has yet to be set. 

Ramgoolam, 77, is the son of the nation’s first post-independence leader. His alliance pledged to cut the cost of food, fuel and medicines. It also plans to raise old-age pensions, reorganize the nation’s ports, airports and national airline, and overhaul the electoral system. 

The new administration will deliver on all its promises, including removing value-added tax on necessities and ensuring the Mauritian rupee remains stable, Ramgoolam told supporters in Triolet, north of the capital, Port Louis, early Tuesday.  

“You will see that the cost of living will stop rising as it is now,” he said. 

The currency fell for a second day on Tuesday, declining as much as 1% against the dollar.

While the Mauritian economy has been booming — gross domestic product is expected to expand more than 6% annually until 2030 — there has been mounting public anger over declining living standards and allegations of government fraud and corruption. 

Jugnauth’s attempts to curb access to some social media sites following what he said was a cyberattack may have also alienated voters. 

The power shift in Mauritius comes days after the party that ruled Botswana for almost six decades was voted out of office, a backlash over the way it ran the diamond-dependent economy. A study published in July by research company Afrobarometer showed faith in democracy in both nations has plunged over the past decade.

Mauritius has seen several peaceful transfers of power since it gained independence from Britain in 1968. The country of about 1.26 million people is known for its pristine beaches and luxury tourist resorts, with visitor arrivals expected to reach 1.4 million this year. 

--With assistance from Thomas Hall and Paul Richardson.

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