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ELECTION-GOVERNMENT-MAURITIUS
Mauritius PM Jugnauth takes oath after election win
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, Nov 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Mauritius’s incumbent Prime
Minister Pravind Jugnauth was sworn in for a five-year term on Tuesday after
elections in which his coalition consolidated its grip on parliament.
Jugnauth, 57, took over from his father in 2017 without going through a
vote, and the decisive victory of his centre-right Morisian Alliance in the
November 7 elections has strengthened his legitimacy.
Jugnauth’s swearing-in took place at the residence of President Barlen
Vyapoory, an AFP journalist reported.
He immediately proposed a new cabinet of 23 members which was approved by
Vyapoory.
It includes three women, including newcomer Kalpana Koonjoo-Shah who will
take over the gender equality ministry.
Jugnauth held the finance portfolio in the previous government, but he is
now handing it over to Renganaden Padayach, former deputy governor of the
Bank of Mauritius.
The Morisian Alliance claimed 42 of 70 seats in parliament, trouncing the
centre-left National Alliance of Navin Ramgoolam, which got 17 seats, and the
Mauritian Militant Movement of Paul Berenger, which garnered nine seats.
Since attaining independence from Britain in 1968, Mauritius has become
one of the most stable democracies in Africa.
The vote last week was peaceful across the Indian Ocean island nation
which has evolved from a poor, agriculture-based economy to a relatively
wealthy financial services hub and tourist beacon.
During the campaign, Jugnauth touted his stewardship of the economy, which
grew at nearly four percent in 2018, and an infrastructure drive that
included construction of an underground train.
But Mauritius, situated roughly 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) off the
eastern coast of Africa, is not without its problems.
Youth unemployment, at 22 percent, is high and income inequality is seen
as deepening in the diverse country of 1.3 million.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1904 hrs