Sunday 9,Nov 2024 {HMC} Some one million eligible voters in the Indian Ocean Mauritius will head out to vote on Sunday amid an explosive scandal that has implicated government figures in a covert wiretapping operation.
Since independence from Britain in 1968, the southeast African country has maintained a strong, vibrant parliamentary democracy. This will be its 12th national election.
Elections are usually deemed free and fair and turnout is normally high, at close to 80 percent.
This time, however, the unusual drama caused by the leaked recordings has sparked national agitation and dominated the campaign season.
Tensions have further escalated after authorities last week imposed a social media ban until November 11, a day after the elections. The unprecedented move provoked outrage from opposition groups and citizens, prompting the government to overturn it a day later.
That’s thanks to Mauritius’s diversified economy, with manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, and a growing pharmaceutical industry.
A nation of 1.3 million, Mauritius is also demographically diverse, made up of multiple communities that trace ancestry to Asian and African indentured and enslaved people who served the colonial governments of first France, and then Britain. The country was in the global limelight in October when it successfully forced the United Kingdom to hand over the Chagos Islands after years of dispute.
Morisien, a French-based creole, is the country’s national language, spoken alongside English and French. The rupee is the national currency and Port Louis is the capital city.
Here’s what you need to know about the Mauritius election and the leaked tape drama that is shaping it.
One of the recordings allegedly features the island’s police commissioner, Anil Kumar Dip, who appears to be asking a forensic doctor to alter the post-mortem report of a person who died after being beaten in police custody.
Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, who is seeking re-election, announced a judicial investigation and has suggested the clips might have been doctored using artificial intelligence. His office put the social media ban in place to “preserve national security”, he said, although members of the opposition accused Jugnauth of trying to use the ban to minimise embarrassment from any further leaks ahead of the election.
How does voting work?
Voters on Sunday will elect members of the National Assembly from multiple parties.
Parliament comprises 70 lawmakers, 62 of whom are directly elected by voters. A “best loser” system means the highest-polling losing parties are allocated eight additional seats based on ethnic and religious quotas.
Parliament in turn appoints the president, who is largely ceremonial. The leader of the political party or party alliance which wins the majority becomes the prime minister
Source Al-jaziira
