The US congratulates the future Prime Minister of Mauritius on his electoral victory and asks to “strengthen ties”

MADRID 13 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, has congratulated Navin Ramgoolam on his party’s victory in the parliamentary elections in Mauritius, which will allow him to once again assume the position of prime minister, which he already held twice in the past.

“The United States congratulates the people of Mauritius for their attachment to the democratic process and the new elected Government for its electoral victory,” said Blinken, who has expressed Washington’s desire to work with Ramgoolam to “strengthen bilateral ties.”

Thus, he defended that “expanding the partnership and deepening cooperation can promote democracy, economic growth and regional security, for the benefit of both countries and the Indian Ocean region,” according to a statement published by the State Department. .

The new Prime Minister of Mauritius will be sworn in this Wednesday after the victory at the polls of the Alliance of Change, recognized on Monday by the outgoing president, Pravind Jugnauth, who was re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term.

Jugnauth stressed to the press that his party, the People’s Alliance, had suffered “a great defeat”, while wishing luck to the new Executive in Mauritius. In this way, Ramgoolam will return to a position he already held twice (1995-2000 and 2005-2014).

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

For his part, Jugnauth will leave office, leaving as his greatest legacy the agreement reached at the beginning of October with the United Kingdom according to which London will return the Chagos archipelago to the African country – colonized more than half a century ago, a fact that caused the displacement of the entire population of the islands–, a pact that also contemplates that operations at the strategically important US base in Diego García be guaranteed.