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Mauritius GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Structure of Government
The 1968 constitution proclaims that Mauritius is a
"democratic state" and that the constitution is the
supreme law
of the land. It guarantees the fundamental rights and
freedoms of
the people, including the right to hold private property
and to
be free from racial or other discrimination. Fundamental
rights
can only be suspended during wars or states of emergency,
which
must be duly declared by the parliament and reviewed every
six
months.
The political structure is patterned to a large extent
on the
British system. As in Britain, the political party that
can gain
support from a majority in parliament chooses the prime
minister,
who, along with the cabinet, wields political power.
The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale or
parliament),
the country's prime law-making body, consists of
representatives
elected from twenty three-member constituencies and one
twomember district on Rodrigues. In addition, unlike the
British
system, eight assembly seats are apportioned to the "best
losers"
among the nonelected candidates, according to their ethnoreligious affiliation--two each for Hindus, Muslims,
Chinese, and
the general population. An attempt must be made to
distribute
these seats proportionally to the major political parties,
which
are expressly referred to in the constitution. The sixty
seats
from the constituencies, together with the eight
best-loser seats
and the two seats representing Rodrigues, constitute the
seventymember parliament or National Assembly. Parliament may
remain in
office for a maximum of five years, unless it is dissolved
by a
vote of no-confidence or an act of the prime minister. A
constitutional amendment, however, provided that the first
assembly reckon its term from 1971, a de facto term of
eight
years. The assembly is responsible for all legislation and
appropriations and may amend the constitution by either a
twothirds or three-quarters majority, depending on the part
of the
constitution in question. A largely titular governor
general
presided over parliament in the name of the British
monarch from
independence in 1968 until March 12, 1992, when Mauritius
declared itself a republic. Since then a president,
appointed by
the prime minister and ratified by the parliament, has
assumed
the role of the governor general.
The constitution also provides for three important
commissions--the Judicial and Legal Service Commission,
the
Public Services Commission, and the Police Service
Commission--as
well as an ombudsman. The commissions oversee the
appointment of
government officials; the ombudsman investigates official
misconduct.
The country's legal system is based on the Napoleonic
Code
and English common law. The Supreme Court heads the
judicial
system and has the power to interpret the constitution and
to
judge the constitutionality of legislation brought to its
attention. Appointed by the prime minister and president,
the
chief justice helps select five other judges on the court.
The
Supreme Court also serves as the Court of Criminal Appeal
and the
Court of Civil Appeal. Mauritius continues to refer legal
and
constitutional matters of undeterminable jurisdiction to
Britain's Privy Council. Lower courts having original
jurisdiction over various kinds of cases include the
Intermediate
Court, the Industrial Court, and ten district courts.
The constitution does not specify the form of local
government. Port Louis has a city council, whereas the
four
townships--Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Curepipe, Quatre Bornes,
and
Vacoas-Phoenix--each has a municipal council. There are
district
councils for Pamplemousses-Rivière du Rempart, Moka-Flacq,
and
Grand Port-Savanne; 124 village councils; and five parish
councils on Rodrigues. All councils are elected bodies,
but the
cabinet occasionally--over much opposition--has suspended
municipal elections because of political unrest. In the
August
30, 1992, village elections, villages each elected twelve
village
councillors, who then are grouped into four district
councils. In
seven of the 124 villages, the candidates were unopposed.
In the
remaining villages, 3,577 persons ran for 1,404 seats. The
election turnout represented 68 percent of eligible
voters. Local
governments depend on the central government for more than
70
percent of their revenues, and only the municipal councils
have
the power to levy their own taxes.
Data as of August 1994
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