The opposition parties won a landslide victory in the elections in Mauritius | Election News

Former prime minister Navin Ramgoolam has won a third term in the Indian Ocean nation, official results said.

Opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam won a landslide victory in the Mauritius parliamentary vote, the election commission said.

The Election Commissioner’s Office on Tuesday said Rangoolam and his Alliance of Change (ADC) coalition won 62.6% of the vote, giving the former three-time prime minister a fourth term.

The ADC won 60 of the 62 seats in the National Assembly, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation reported.

“The people’s court has given its verdict and a new Mauritius is rising,” said 77-year-old Rangoolam as he addressed crowds of supporters amid cheers and blaring horns.

Ramgoolam served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Along with the 60 seats of Mauritius, there were two to be taken from the island of Rodrigues and the other eight were allocated under the so-called “best offender”.

The winner-take-all electoral model means that single coalitions often dominate parliament.

‘It’s free to talk’

Acting Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth admitted on Monday that his Lepep coalition, led by the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), was “heading for a major defeat”.

“The people have chosen another team to lead the country,” Jugnauth, who has served as prime minister since 2017, told reporters.

Only last month, the 62-year-old prime minister was celebrating a landmark agreement in which Britain relinquished sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a long-running dispute.

But the vote was overshadowed by the explosion of the wiretapping scandal, in which secretly recorded calls of politicians, diplomats, members of civil society and journalists were leaked online.

Ramgoolam said that following his resounding victory, he will start dismantling “the intelligence system so that the people of Mauritius can speak freely”.

Economic challenges

During the campaign, both camps promised to improve the situation of Mauritians who are facing difficult cost of living despite strong economic growth.

The measures outlined in the Alliance of Change manifesto include the creation of a fund to support families facing difficulties, free public transport, increasing pensions and reducing the price of fuel, as well as efforts to deal with corruption and improve the surrounding economy.

It also called for changes to the constitution and elections, including changing the way the president and speaker of parliament are elected.

At least one million people registered to vote on Sunday in the twelfth election since Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.

Mauritius, located about 2,000km (1,240 miles) off the east coast of Africa, is regarded as one of the continent’s most stable democracies and has developed a successful economy supported by its financial, tourism and agricultural sectors since independence.

Both Jugnauth and Ramgoolam are members of the dynasty that has ruled Mauritius since independence.

Ramgoolam, a former doctor and lawyer, is the son of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who led Mauritius to independence from Britain.