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1983 Mauritian general election

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Field	Value
country	Mauritius
type	parliamentary
previous_election	1982 Mauritian general election
previous_year	1982
next_election	1987 Mauritian general election
next_year	1987
seats_for_election	All 62 directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly
(and up to 8 BLS seats)
turnout	85.19% ( 3.65 pp)
election_date
alliance_name	no
image1	Anerood Jugnauth, 1980s.jpg
leader1	Anerood Jugnauth
party1	MSM
alliance1	MSM–PTr–PMSD
colour1	ffa500
popular_vote1	437,785
percentage1	31.70%
seats1	31
seat_change1	New
1blank	Alliance seats
1data1	46
2blank	Popular vote
2data1	716,860
3blank	Alliance %
3data1	51.90%
image2	Paul Bérenger, 1980s.jpg
leader2	Paul Bérenger
party2	Mauritian Militant Movement
alliance2	–
seats2	22
seat_change2	20
popular_vote2	629,528
percentage2	45.58%
map_image	1983 Mauritian general election - Results by constituency.svg
map_caption	Alliance result by constituency. The colour shade shows the percentage of the elected candidate with the highest number of votes
title	Prime Minister
posttitle	Subsequent Prime Minister
before_election	Anerood Jugnauth
before_party	Militant Socialist Movement
after_election	Anerood Jugnauth
after_party	Militant Socialist Movement

(and up to 8 BLS seats)

Early general elections were held in Mauritius on 21 August 1983. The result was a victory for an alliance of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), the Labour Party and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD), which between them won 46 seats. The Militant Socialist Movement won 32 seats, whilst the Labour Party secured ten seats and the PMSD five. On the other hand, the Mauritian Militant Movement was relegated to 22 seats, down from 42 in the last election. Voter turnout was 85.19%.

The election was called by Anerood Jugnauth, who became prime minister after winning in a landslide in 1982, five months after the governing coalition split due to disagreements between finance minister Paul Bérenger and Jugnauth. The latter formed the MSM in April 1983 and saw the Parti Socialiste Mauricien merge with the new party. Jugnauth remained as prime minister only with a narrow majority and unable to maintain that majority, he decided to call for early elections barely a year after the last one was called.

Jugnauth's electoral alliance allowed him to remain prime minister whilst bringing Gaëtan Duval, who became deputy prime minister, and Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who was appointed eventually as governor-general, back into the government after their severe defeat in the 1982 elections. Newly elected leader Satcam Boolell became the country's foreign minister.

The Mauritian Militant Movement suffered after the departure of Jugnauth and the split of the MMM-PSM alliance. Bérenger, the party's leader, was not popularly elected in his own constituency. However, under the Best Loser System, he secured his seat through the representational system. He was appointed afterwards as Leader of the Opposition, a post he held until 1987.

Electoral system

The Legislative Assembly has 62 directly elected members; 60 represent 20 three-seat constituencies, and two are elected from a constituency on the island of Rodrigues. The elections are held using the plurality block vote system with panachage, whereby voters have as many votes as seats available. In what is commonly known as the Best Loser System, should a community fail to win parliamentary representation, the Electoral Supervisory Commission can appoint up to eight unsuccessful candidates from these communities with the most votes. The Electoral Commission divides the electorate into four communities: Hindus, Muslims, Sino-Mauritians and the general population; the latter comprises voters who do not belong to the first three. Unless the Governor-General dissolves the Legislative Assembly early, members serve a five-year term.{{cite constitution|article=57|section=2|polity=Mauritius|date=1968|url= https://humanrights.govmu.org/Documents/Legislation/Constitution%20of%20Mauritius.pdf|access-date=6 November 2024|website=Human Rights Division – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade}}

Parties and candidates

Following the internal divisions of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) between the factions of Jugnauth and Bérenger, the former's faction split and formed the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) on 8 April 1983, with members of the other governing party, Parti Socialiste Mauricien (PSM), joining and merging with the new party.

The MSM eventually formed an electoral alliance with the Labour Party led by Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. The alliance appeared on the ballot as MSM/Travailliste. The two parties also closely cooperated with Gaëtan Duval's Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD), with the alliance not deciding to field any candidates in constituencies where PMSD candidates stood. The PMSD stood in constituencies of Grand River North West-Port-Louis West, Curepipe-Midlands, Stanley-Rose Hill, Beau Bassin-Petite Rivière and Rodrigues. The MSM–PTr–PMSD alliance ran in all 21 constituencies.

As for the MMM, the party decided to run on its own without forming an alliance and contested in all mainland constituencies.

Major alliance/party	Alliance leader	Candidates
Militant Socialist Movement}}	MSM–PTr–PMSD	Militant Socialist Movement}}		Militant Socialist Movement
Labour Party (Mauritius)}}	Labour Party	13
Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate}}	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate	14
Mauritian Militant Movement}}	Mauritian Militant Movement	Paul Bérenger	60

Results

By constituency

Constituency	Elected MPs	Party
1	Grand River North West–
Port Louis West	Mathieu Laclé
Jérôme Boulle	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Rajnee Dyalah	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
2	Port Louis South–
Port Louis Central	Noël Lee Cheong Lem
Khalid Tegally	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Subhas Chandra Lallah	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Kamil Ramoly (best loser)	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
3	Port Louis Maritime–
Port Louis East	Bashir Khodabux
Osman Gendoo	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Cassam Uteem	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Ismaël Nawoor (best loser)	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
4	Port Louis North–
Montagne Longue	Shree Krisna Baligadoo
José Arunasalom	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Dinesh Mundil	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Sylvio Michel (best loser)	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Georgy Candahoo (best loser)	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
5	Pamplemousses–Triolet	Beergoonath Ghurburrun
Diwakur Bundhun	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Dinesh Ramjuttun	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
6	Grand Baie–Poudre D'Or	Armoogum Parsooraman
Sattyanand Pelladoah	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
Madan Dulloo	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
7	Piton–Riviere du Rempart	Dwarkanath Gungah
Anerood Jugnauth	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Mahyendrah Utchanah	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
8	Quartier Militaire–Moka	Kadress Pillay
Vinod Goodoory	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Rashidally Soobadar	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
9	Flacq–Bon Accueil	Dev Kim Currun
Ajay Daby	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Iswardeo Seetaram	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
10	Montagne Blanche–
Grand River South East	Satcam Boolell
Kader Bhayat	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Jagdishwar Goburdhun	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
11	Vieux Grand Port–Rose Belle	Anandisswar Choolun
Nemchand Raj Molaye	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Radha Gungoosingh	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
12	Mahebourg–Plaine Magnien	Lutchmeeparsadsing Ramsahok
Serge Thomas	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
Suresh Chandra Poonith	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
13	Riviere des Anguilles–Souillac	Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo
Amba Chinien	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
Harish Boodhoo	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
14	Savanne–Black River	Sheilabai Bappoo
Kishore Deerpalsing	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Roger Gaëtan Gungurum	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
15	La Caverne–Phoenix	Uttam Jawaheer
Sahid Maudarbocus	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Yousuf Mohamed	Labour Party (Mauritius)}}		PTr
16	Vacoas–Floreal	Karl Offmann
Babooram Mahadoo	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Rohit Beedassy	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
France Canabady (best loser)	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
17	Curepipe–Midlands	Gaëtan Duval
Marc Hein	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate}}		PMSD
Kailash Purryag	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate}}		PMSD
18	Belle Rose–Quatre Bornes	Michael Glover
Anil Gayan	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Dev Virahsawmy	Militant Socialist Movement}}		MSM
Paul Bérenger (best loser)	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
19	Stanley–Rose Hill	Jayen Cuttaree
Jean-Claude de l'Estrac	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
20	Beau Bassin–Petite Riviere	Jean Régis Finette
Hervé Duval	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate}}		PMSD
Rajesh Bhagwan	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Joceline Minerve (best loser)	Mauritian Militant Movement}}		MMM
Marie Ghiselaine Henry (best loser)	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate}}		PMSD
21	Rodrigues	France Félicité
Serge Clair	Rodrigues People's Organisation}}		OPR
Source: [Electoral Commission](https://electoral.govmu.org/oec/?page_id=1641)

References

[[Dieter Nohlen]], Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p618 {{ISBN. 0-19-829645-2
"Il y a 34 ans, le 22 août 1983: Le MMM éclipsé aux élections générales". L'Express.
"A new exodus from the MMM…". L'Express.
"Electoral System". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
[http://www.eisa.org.za/wep/mau1967background.htm Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election] EISA
(2015). "Is it time to let go? The Best Loser System in Mauritius". Afrika Focus.
(9 April 2018). "Anerood Jugnauth lance le MSM". [[L'Express (Mauritius).
(22 August 2008). "Le 20 juin 1983: Anerood Jugnauth annonce une alliance MSM-PTr". [[L'Express (Mauritius).
(22 August 2008). "Le Soleil de Jugnauth éclipse le c?ur MMM par 41 sièges à 19". [[L'Express (Mauritius).
(22 August 2017). "Il y a 34 ans, le 22 août 1983: Le MMM éclipsé aux élections générales". [[L'Express (Mauritius).

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