PORT LOUIS: Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth conceded on Monday that his coalition was heading for a major drubbing in hotly disputed legislative elections, paving the way for the opposition to take power.

Final results from Sunday’s vote have yet to be released, but opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam looked set to become prime minister for the third time at the head of his Alliance of Change coalition.

Jugnauth said his Lepep alliance, led by his Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), was “heading towards a huge defeat” after the elections in one of Africa’s most stable and prosperous democracies.

“The people have chosen another team to lead the country,” Jugnauth, who has been prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation since 2017, told reporters.

“We must respect this choice […] and we wish the country and the population good luck.” Results are likely to be announced later Monday, with delays in counting caused by some election day incidents as officials were taking ballot boxes from polling stations to tallying centres, media reports said.

The winner-takes-all election model means single coalitions often dominate the 70-seat National Assembly. Sixty-two seats were up for grabs on Sunday, with the remaining eight allocated under what is dubbed the “best loser” system. Only last month, Jugnauth was celebrating a historic deal with Britain for Mauritius to regain sovereignty over the Chagos Islands following a long-running dispute.

Jugnauth, who first became prime minister after his father stepped down and then won the 2019 election, had portrayed himself as the candidate for continuity. But the vote was overshadowed by an explosive wire-tapping scandal, when secretly recorded phone calls of politicians, diplomats, members of civil society and journalists were leaked online.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024