Mauritius’ new prime minister sworn in for fourth time in more than three decades

MADRID 14 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The new Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navin Ramgoolam, was sworn into office this Wednesday after the victory of the Alliance of Change in the legislative elections on Sunday, in which it is the fourth time in more than 30 years of political career that he has taken possession as head of the Mauritian Government.

The ceremony took place at the State House, in the presence of the country’s president, Prithvirajsing Roopun, as well as the leaders of his party Paul Bérenger, Richard Duval and Ashok Subron.

Likewise, the former presidents of the Republic Ameenah Gurib-Fakim ​​and Cassam Uteem, and personalities from the business world and the diplomatic corps, attended the inauguration of Ramgoolam, according to the Mauritian newspaper ‘L’Express’.

The president of the country appointed Ramgoolam as the new prime minister on Tuesday after he won with an overwhelming majority over the People’s Alliance of the previous head of Government, Pravind Jugnauth, who had been re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term.

The coalition led by Ramgoolam achieved 60 deputies of the National Assembly directly elected by the Mauritians, out of a total of 70 that are part of this unicameral Parliament, according to the Le Mauricien portal.

The elections were held after the president dissolved the National Assembly by decree on October 4, in the midst of growing social discontent due to a scandal related to leaks on social networks of recordings of an alleged plot to wiretap politicians and journalists. .

Jugnauth’s main opponent was precisely the Alliance of Change coalition, led by former Prime Minister Ramgoolam, who already led the African country on three occasions (1995-2000 and 2005-2014).

Mauritius, a country with almost 1.3 million inhabitants that is defined as the bridge between Africa and Asia, lives mainly on financial services, manufacturing and tourism.