General elections were held in Mauritius on 5 May 2010. The coalition comprising Mauritius Labour Party under Navin Ramgoolam, the Militant Socialist Movement under Pravind Jugnauth and the Mauritian Social Democrat Party under Xavier-Luc Duval won a majority with 41 seats in the parliament. The Mauritian Militant Movement-led coalition under Paul Berenger finished second with 18 seats. The Mauritian Solidarity Front won one seat and the Rodrigues Movement won the two remaining seats. The elections were the ninth to be held since independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.
The Mauritius Labour Party, Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD) and Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) formed an electoral coalition called Alliance de L'Avenir () for this election. Ramgoolam, the alliance leader, allotted 35 seats to his own party to compete for the 60 seats on the island, whereas the MSM was given 18 and the PMSD 7. Before the election, it appeared that Berenger might gain back the PM's post that he held from 2003 to 2005; he was the first prime minister since independence that was not of South Asian origin. Berenger led his own alliance of parties, known as the Alliance du Coeur (), a reference to the official logo of the Mauritian Militant Movement, by far the biggest party in that alliance. Parties based in Rodrigues compete for the two remaining seats, with the Rodrigues People's Organisation and the Rodrigues Movement being the main parties there.
During the election, 62 seats in the National Assembly of Mauritius were contested with a further eight seats to be designated by the electoral commission under a complex formula designed to keep a balance of ethnic groups in the parliament. The candidates must declare which ethnic group (Hindu, Muslim, Chinese or "general population") they belong to in order to run for a seat. In 2010, 104 of the candidates refused to do so, resulting in them being disqualified, leaving 529 candidates for the seats. Around 130 foreign observers, including some from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, were present to monitor the voting process.
Around 900,000 people were eligible to vote in the election. The main issues debated were economic and constitutional reform, fraud, corruption, drug trafficking and ethnicity. Paul Berenger accused the incumbent government of abusing the state-owned television station, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, to influence voters. He also accused his political opponents of using communalism and of negatively drawing attention to his minority Franco-Mauritian ancestry to swing voters against him.
The Alliance de l'Avenir received 49% of the vote and won 41 seats, while the Alliance du Coeur received 42% of the vote and won 18 seats. The remaining parties and independent candidates received 8% of the vote. From the 62 seats, only ten women were elected.
After the Alliance de L'Avenir was declared winner of the elections, its leader, Navin Ramgoolam, mentioned that he would govern in the interest of every Mauritian so that no one would be left behind. He added that the priorities of his government were the improvement of road infrastructures, the security of the people, education, health and youth development. Paul Berenger, who conceded defeat after the election, said that members of his party would continue their fight for a better Mauritius. He claimed that this election had not been free and fair, attributing the defeat of his alliance to numerous factors including biased coverage of the election by the state-owned television station, more financial resources by his political opponents, communalism and the electoral system. However, he would be prepared to work with the government for electoral reform, especially because his alliance had obtained only 18 of the 62 seats despite seizing 43% of popular votes.
On 7 May 2010, the Electoral Supervisory Commission made their decision on the non-elected candidates to occupy the eight best loser seats in the National Assembly based on the religious and ethnic declarations of the candidates not elected, a system referred to as the 'Best Loser System'. Exceptionally, instead of 8, only 7 candidates were designated. Per the normal procedure, 4 best loser seats are allotted to candidates not elected but having obtained the highest percentage of votes as a member of a political party. However, they had to be of an appropriate religion or ethnic to maintain a balance in the parliament. 4 other seats are to be allotted so as not to change the result of the election. The Alliance de L'Avenir was allotted 4 additional seats whereas the Alliance du Coeur obtained 2 additional seats. Whereas the Electoral Supervisory Commission had no problem in attributing one seat to one candidate of the Rodrigues People's Organisation, they had difficulty in choosing a candidate for the 8th seat, which normally has to be a Sino-Mauritian of one of the two other successful parties in this election. But given neither the Mauritian Solidarity Front nor the Rodrigues Movement had candidates of this community during this election, no candidate was named for the 8th additional seat.
Observers from the African Union for this election declared that the Best Loser system is problematic for the national unity of the country though it can reinforce social cohesion. They also considered the 2010 Mauritian general elections to have been 'free and transparent'.
Results
By constituency Constituency MP Party Notes 1 Grand River North West–Port Louis West Arianne Navarre-Marie Reelected Jean Claude Barbier Reelected Veda Baloomoody Reelected 2 Port Louis South–Port Louis Central Rashid Beebeejaun Reelected Reza Uteem Elected Abdullah Hossen Elected 3 Port Louis Maritime–Port Louis East Aadil Ameer Meea Elected Shakeel Mohamed Reelected Cehl Meeah Elected 4 Port Louis North–Montagne Longue Mireille Martin Reelected Joe Lesjongard Reelected Kalyanee Juggoo Elected Aurore Perraud Best Loser 5 Pamplemousses–Triolet Navin Ramgoolam Reelected Devanand Ritoo Reelected Satish Faugoo Reelected 6 Grand Baie–Poudre d'Or Ashit Gungah Elected Lormus Bundhoo Reelected Mookhesswur Choonee Elected 7 Piton–Rivière du Rempart Pratibha Bholah Elected Balkissoon Hookoom Reelected Deva Virahsawmy Elected 8 Quartier Militaire–Moka Pravind Jugnauth Elected Leela Dookun-Luchoomun Reelected Suren Dayal Reelected 9 Flacq–Bon Accueil Anil Bachoo Reelected Dhiraj Khamajeet Elected Prithvirajsing Roopun Elected 10 Montagne Blanche–Grand River South East Rajesh Jeetah Reelected Jim Seetaram Elected Cader Sayed-Hossen Reelected 11 Vieux Grand Port–Rose Belle Arvin Boolell Reelected Mahen Seeruttun Elected Sutyadeo Moutia Reelected 12 Mahébourg–Plaine Magnien Mahen Jhugroo Reelected Vasant Bunwaree Reelected Thierry Henry Elected 13 Rivière des Anguilles–Souillac Pradeep Peetumber Reelected Abu Kasenally Reelected Tassarajen Pillay Elected 14 Savanne–Black River Alan Ganoo Reelected Maya Hanoomanjee Reelected Hervé Aimée Elected Josique Radegonde Best Loser 15 La Cavèrne–Phoenix Patrick Assirvaden Elected Showkutally Soodhun Reelected Rihun Hawoldar Reelected Raffick Sorefan Best Loser 16 Vacoas–Floréal Nando Bodha Reelected Sheila Bappoo Reelected Françoise Labelle Reelected Stéphanie Anquetil Best Loser 17 Curepipe–Midlands Éric Guimbeau Reelected Satish Boolell Elected Steven Obeegadoo Elected Michael Sik Yuen Best Loser 18 Belle Rose–Quatre Bornes Xavier-Luc Duval Reelected Kavy Ramano Elected Nita Deerpalsing Reelected 19 Stanley–Rose Hill Paul Bérenger Reelected Deven Nagalingum Elected Nicole Ribot Elected Reza Issack Best Loser; Reelected 20 Beau Bassin–Petite Rivière Rajesh Bhagwan Reelected Kee Li Kwong Wing Elected Franco Quirin Elected 21 Rodrigues Christian Leopold Reelected Nicolas Von Mally Reelected Francisco François Best Loser Source: OEC, OEC
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