New broom's promise to sweep clean

The opposition Social Alliance (SC), led by Navin Ramgoolam, has swept to victory in general elections in Mauritius, netting 38 out of 62 seats in Sunday's poll. Ramgoolam went head-to-head with incumbent Prime Minister Paul Berenger in what was a tight race for the presidency of the Indian Ocean Island. The erstwhile ruling party secured just 22 seats, having suffered heavy losses in urban strongholds. Berenger conceded defeat on Monday evening and resigned shortly after the final results were declared. Eight more deputies, representing ethnic minorities, will be nominated by President Anerood Jugnauth to complete the country's 70-member parliament. Ramgoolam, whose opposition alliance includes the Labour Party and the Mauritian Party of Xavier Duval, has promised to tackle growing frustration with rising unemployment and inflation as the country's grapples with the loss of preferential trade deals with the United States and the European Union (EU). "The outgoing government did not address some of the fundamental economic problems facing the country in recent times and was voted out of power because of their poor performance. It is now our task to make sure that sustainable economic growth is achieved, and that the disparity between the rich and the poor is addressed," Labour Party secretary-general, Dharam Ghokool, told IRIN on Tuesday. Mauritius's relatively stable economy was caught offguard this year after the EU announced it would drastically cut the price it paid for sugar imported under a quota system. The country has also faced stiff competition from Chinese textile companies, compounding its economic woes. "Although these recent developments were as a result of international decisions, we feel Berenger's government could have done more to protect the economy from external shocks. The [Social] Alliance already has plans to meet with the EU over a better sugar deal for Mauritius," Ghokool commented. In a bid to ease economic difficulties for the poor the newly elected government would scrap income tax for workers earning less than Rupees 25,000 (about US $870) per month. On a broader economic front, Ramgoolam's party has promised to improve access to credit for small businesses and overhaul land ownership, which was largely controlled by a small elite, he said. But analysts point out that much of the success of Ramgoolam's populist agenda depended on whether his party had learnt from mistakes made when they held in power in the late 1990s. Ramgoolam, who served as prime minister between 1995 and 2000, was accused of waivering on justice reforms and not doing enough to stamp out corruption. His government was also chastised for its alleged sluggishness and cumbersome bureaucracy. Sheila Bunwaree, a senior political science lecturer at the University of Mauritius, commented that while the allegations were "somewhat sound", they should be understood in context of the administration Ramgoolam was handed when he took power. "It must be said that when [Ramgoolam] was in power he faced many challenges; perhaps at the time he was not politically mature enough to deal with all of them," she told IRIN. However, Ramgoolam should be commended on the economic and electoral reforms undertaken while he was at the helm, Bunwaree added, saying that his main task would be to tackle unemployment and implement measures to assist poor households still reeling after job losses. "There was great sense of disappointment with Berenger, especially since so many people had high hopes when he came to power. But over the years they were confronted by a man that offered little support in the face of economic adversity," Bunwaree noted. Berenger, a white Mauritian of French descent, became the island's first non-Hindu prime minister in September 2003, succeeding Anerood Jugnauth. Bunwaree downplayed suggestions that his ethnicity had hastened his exit from power. "Indeed, Berenger's ethnicity may have influenced the results of the vote in some parts of the country, but it not a major factor overall and must not be exaggerated. If his ethnicity was a problem in the first place, he wouldn't have become prime minister in 2003," Bunwaree told IRIN. People of Indian origin make up around 66 percent of the population of around 1.2 million, of which around 50 percent are Hindu and 16 percent Muslim. The Afro-Creole population, to which Berenger belongs, constitutes 30 percent of the population.