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Voters go to the polls

Country Map - Mauritius
IRIN
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Voters in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius went to the polls in a general election on Monday to choose a new government after a month of campaigning which officials told IRIN had been “festive” and free of violence. Irfan Rahman, the electoral commissioner said 779,431 voters in the country would choose from 535 candidates representing 43 parties to stand in the country’s parliament of 62 seats. “We have had a month of violence-free, festive campaigning and we expect a high turn-out in the 20 constituencies today,” an electoral official told IRIN. He said the polling stations had opened at 6:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) and would close 12 hours later. Officials said they expected the results to be announced later on Tuesday. Despite the large number of parties fielding candidates, election officials and newspapers in Mauritius forecast a straightforward fight between the Labour Party-led coalition government of Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and an opposition alliance of the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) and Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien (MSM). The MMM is led by former prime minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, and the MSM by Paul Berenger, a former finance minister. Ramgoolam called the election on 14 August with just months to go before the end of the government’s five-year term. The majority of the island’s people are ethnic Indians, of whom 50 percent are Hindu, and 16 percent Muslim. The remaining 50 percent are mixed descendants of former slaves and British and French settlers, most of whom are Christian. Three percent are Chinese. Mauritius is a member of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). According to UNICEF’s ‘Progress of Nations 2000’ report, the country has a per capita GNP of US $3,730 - one of the highest in Africa. Under electoral rules, candidates who get the most votes become members of parliament. But if any of the country’s five ethnic communities is found to be under-represented after the election, there is a provision for “best losers” to become MP’s, and thus keep parliament as representative as possible. At final election rallies on Sunday, the MMM, the MSM, the Labour Party and its coalition partner, the small Parti Mauricien (PM) led by Xavier-Luc Duval, all drew large, colourful crowds. In a country with six percent unemployment, all pledged to create new jobs and to fight corruption.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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