1983 Mauritian general election

1983 Mauritian general election

21 August 1983 (1983-08-21)
All 60 seats in the National Assembly 31 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Anerood Jugnauth Paul Berenger Party MSM–PTR–PMSD MMM Last election 4 seats 42 seats Seats won 46 22 Seat change 42 20 Popular vote 716,860 629,536 Percentage 51.90% 45.58%
Prime Minister before election Anerood Jugnauth MMM Subsequent Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth MSM

General elections were held in Mauritius on 21 August 1983. The result was a victory for an alliance of the Militant Socialist Movement, the Labour Party and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate, which between them won 46 seats. The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) won 32 seats, whilst the Labour Party secured nine seats and PMSD five. This alliance allowed Jugnauth to continue as Prime Minister while bringing Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Gaetan Duval back into the government after their severe defeat in the 1982 elections. Shortly after, Ramgoolam was appointed as Governor General, Duval became Deputy Prime Minister and Satcam Boolell (new leader of the labour Party) became Minister of Foreign Affairs. Voter turnout was 85%.

The Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) suffered after the departure of Anerood Jugnauth (who resigned as Leader of the MMM in 1983 to form the MSM) and the Mauritian Socialist Party (the MMM's coalition party since 1982) from the government. The party's leader, Paul Berenger, was not popularly elected in his own constituency. However, under the Best Loser System, he secured his seat through the representational system. Berenger was afterwards appointed as Leader of the Opposition, a post he held until 1987.

Electoral system

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

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Cons	BL	Total	+/–
	Mauritian Militant Movement	629,528	45.58	19	3	22	–20
	MSM–Labour Party	575,996	41.70	37	4	41	–
	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate	140,864	10.20	4	1	5	–
	Rodrigues People's Organisation	15,981	1.16	2	0	2	0
	Lalit	3,116	0.23	0	0	0	New
	Independent Mauritian Front	2,637	0.19	0	0	0	New
	Progressive Labour Party	2,143	0.16	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian Democratic Movement	1,036	0.08	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian Grouping	735	0.05	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Mauritius	704	0.05	0	0	0	New
	Liberal Movement of the North	572	0.04	0	0	0	0
	Progressive Movement	426	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian People's Party	358	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Socialist Grouping of the South	241	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian Muslim Rights	156	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Independents	6,658	0.48	0	0	0	0
Total		1,381,151	100.00	62	8	70	+4
Valid votes		464,465	98.82
Invalid/blank votes		5,543	1.18
Total votes		470,008	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		551,708	85.19
Source: Electoral Commission, African Elections Database, Nohlen et al.