1976 Mauritian general election

1976 Mauritian general election

20 December 1976 (1976-12-20)
All 62 directly elected seats in the National Assembly (and up to 8 BLS seats)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Anerood Jugnauth Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Gaëtan Duval Party MMM Labour Party PMSD Alliance Independence Party Last election New 54.66%, 30 seats 43.53%, 27 seats Seats won 34 28 8 Seat change 34 3 19 Popular vote 469,420 461,949 200,559 Percentage 38.69% 38.08% 16.53% Swing New 16.58pp 27.0pp
Result by constituency. The colour shade shows the percentage of the elected candidate with the highest number of votes
Prime minister before election Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Labour Party Subsequent Prime minister Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Labour Party

General elections were held in Mauritius on 20 December 1976.^[1] They were the first general elections to be held since independence on 12 March 1968 and came nine years after the previous elections in 1967. Although elections had been scheduled for 1972, they were cancelled by the Labour Party–Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate–Muslim Committee of Action coalition government due to political unrest. The year prior to these elections was marked by the May 1975 Students protest riots.

The Mauritian Militant Movement won the most seats, but a coalition government was formed by the Independence Party (a coalition of the Labour Party, Muslim Committee of Action and Independent Forward Bloc) and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate. Around 400 candidates representing thirty-one parties contested the election, but only three parties won seats.^[2][3] Voter turnout was 88%.^[4]

Electoral system

The voting system involved twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of Rodrigues, and eight seats were filled by the nominated "best losers".^[5]

Results

The best losers included Yousuf Mohamed and Harold Walter.^[6][7]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Cons	BL	Total	+/–
	Mauritian Militant Movement	469,420	38.69	30	4	34	New
	Independence Party	461,949	38.08	25	3	28	–3
	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate	200,559	16.53	7	1	8	–19
	Independent Forward Bloc	26,902	2.22	0	0	0	–12
	Mauritian Democratic Union	12,505	1.03	0	0	0	New
	Progressive Socialist Party	9,807	0.81	0	0	0	New
	Rodrigues People's Organisation	6,376	0.53	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement	5,372	0.44	0	0	0	New
	Progressive Party of the South	2,223	0.18	0	0	0	New
	Republican Centre Party	1,636	0.13	0	0	0	New
	Labour Unity Liberals	800	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius Muslim Democratic League	266	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius People's Progressive Party	249	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Mauritius	244	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius Muslim Rights	236	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius United Party	186	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Movement and the Mauritian Socialist Youth	174	0.01	0	0	0	New
	People's Democratic Party	143	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Union of the General Population	92	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Independents	14,021	1.16	0	0	0	New
Total		1,213,160	100.00	62	8	70	0
Registered voters/turnout		462,034	–
Source: Electoral Commission, Nohlen et al.

By constituency

Constituency		Elected MPs	Party
1	Grand River North West– Port Louis West	Jack Bizlall		MMM
		Edouard Jérôme Boulle		MMM
		Rajnee Dyalah		MMM
2	Port Louis South– Port Louis Central	Kader Bhayat		MMM
		Noël Lee Cheong Lem		MMM
		Rajiv Servansingh		MMM
		Kamil Ramoly (best loser)		PMSD
3	Port Louis Maritime– Port Louis East	Bashir Khodabux		MMM
		Cassam Uteem		MMM
		Osman Gendoo		MMM
4	Port Louis North– Montagne Longue	Suresh Moorba		MMM
		Shree Krisna Baligadoo		MMM
		Sylvio Michel		MMM
5	Pamplemousses–Triolet	Seewoosagur Ramgoolam		Labour
		Gyandeo Daby		Labour
		Rabindrah Ghurburrun		Labour
6	Grand Baie–Poudre D'Or	Mooneeswar Hurry		Labour
		Madan Dulloo		MMM
		Dharmanand Goopt Fokeer		MMM
7	Piton–Riviere du Rempart	Rammesh Jeewoolall		Labour
		Simadree Virahsawmy		Labour
		Anerood Jugnauth		MMM
8	Quartier Militaire–Moka	Veerasamy Ringadoo		Labour
		Mahess Teeluck		Labour
		Krishnalall Coonjan		MMM
		Yousuf Mohamed (best loser)		Labour
9	Flacq–Bon Accueil	Dwarkanath Gungah		MMM
		Kanchandraseeh Bussawon		Labour
		Vijay Jandoosing		MMM
10	Montagne Blanche– Grand River South East	Ramduthsingh Jaddoo		MMM
		Satcam Boolell		Labour
		Jagdishwar Goburdhun		MMM
		Azize Asgarally (best loser)		MMM
11	Vieux Grand Port–Rose Belle	Radha Gungoosingh		Labour
		Dayanundlall Basant Rai		Labour
		Premdut Doongoor		Labour
12	Mahebourg–Plaine Magnien	Lutchmeeparsad Badry		Labour
		Lutchmeeparsadsing Ramsahok		MMM
		Harris Ramphul		MMM
		Louis Amedee Darga (best loser)		MMM
		Harold Walter (best loser)		Labour
13	Riviere des Anguilles–Souillac	Harish Boodhoo		Labour
		Suresh Chandra Poonith		MMM
		Swalay Kasenally		MMM
14	Savanne–Black River	Hurrydew Ramchurn		Labour
		Kaleshwarao Saccaram		Labour
		Jean-Claude Augustave		MMM
15	La Caverne–Phoenix	Kailash Purryag		Labour
		Iswardeo Seetaram		Labour
		Razack Peeroo		Labour
16	Vacoas–Floreal	Rohit Beedassy		Labour
		Emmanuel Bussier		Labour
		Angidi Chettiar		Labour
17	Curepipe–Midlands	Pierre Simonet		PMSD
		Alain Maurice Espitalier-Noël		PMSD
		Marie Ghislaine Henry		PMSD
		Clarel Desiré Malherbe (best loser)		Labour
18	Belle Rose–Quatre Bornes	Paul Bérenger		MMM
		James Burty David		Labour
		Heeralall Bhugaloo		Labour
19	Stanley–Rose Hill	Jean–Claude de l'Estrac		MMM
		Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra		MMM
		Vijayanathan Venkatasamy		MMM
20	Beau Bassin–Petite Riviere	Robert Rey		PMSD
		Eliézer Francois		PMSD
		Vidula Nababasing		MMM
		Finlay Salesse (best loser)		MMM
		Jean Claude Bibi (best loser)		MMM
21	Rodrigues	Cyril Guimbeau		PMSD
		Nicol François		PMSD
Source: Government of Mauritius Bold indicates reelected incumbent MP.

References

1. "Mauritius: 1976 Legislative Assembly election results". EISA. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
2. Mauritius Inter-Parliamentary Union
3. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p618 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
4. Mauritius: 1976 Legislative Assembly election results EISA
5. Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election EISA
6. "Décès de Mᵉ Yousuf Mohamed Parcours politique: la grève de 1979, un intense moment de son existence". L'Express. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
7. Selvon, Sydney; Riviere, Lindsay (1991). Historical Dictionary of Mauritius. Metuchen N.J.: Scarecrow Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-8108-2480-5. Retrieved 2022-12-11.

External links

• 1976 Mauritian election day British Pathe