Anerood Jugnauth
The Rt Hon.Sir Anerood Jugnauth[1] KCMG, QC, GCSK, PC,MP LLB, GOLH, GOP, ORS (born :आनेरूद जुग्नौथ on 29th March 1930) is the President of Mauritius.
He served as prime minister from 1982 to 1995, when he was voted out of office. He was the prime minister who held the office for the longest run of complete sixteen years overtaking Seewoosagur Ramgoolam who held the office for fourteen years. As leader of the Militant Socialist Movement, he became prime minister again after the 2000 elections. His alliance partner, Paul Bérenger of the Mauritian Militant Movement, succeeded him in 2003, after serving as Jugnauth's deputy for three years. Jugnauth was then elected president in 2003.He was a Member of Parliament for 35 years from 1963 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2003 .
He is from the prominent Jugnauth family in Mauritius .He son Pravind Jugnauth is former deputy Prime Minister and also served as Leader of Opposition before gaining a seat in the Parliament again.His small brother Ashok Jugnauth is also former Minister and Member of Parliament.
Early Career and Education
He had his primary education at Palma Primary School and had his secondary education at Regent College . He taught for some time at New Eton College and later worked as a clerk in the Poor Law Department for some time before being transferred to the Judicial Department. In 1951, he left Mauritius for the UK to study law. In 1964, he was elected Chairman of the Palma Village Council. He was first elected to parliament as an Independent Forward Block (IFB) candidate in the constituency of Rivière du Rempart in 1963.
He joined the All Mauritius Hindu Congress in 1965. State Minister for Development in the governement of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam from 1965 to 1966, he was promoted Minister of Labour in November 1966. He took part in the 'London Constitutional Conference' on Mauritius '. He resigned from his office in April 1967.
Anerood Jugnauth served as a magistrate shortly after his resignation. In 1969, he was promoted to the Crown Law Office. In 1971, he was made Senior Crown Counsel.
IIn the beginning of the 70's, Anerood Jugnauth joined the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM). He became the president and subsequently the leader of the party. Re-elected at the general election held in 1976 in the constituency of Piton/Rivière du Rempart, he served as Leader of the Opposition from December 1976 to June 1982.
Jugnauth trained and worked in law and took an active role in the 1960s negotiations for independence. Hewas called to the Bar in London in 1954. His political career began with his being elected in the Constituency of Rivière du Rempart in 1963. He was the President of the Palma Village council in 1964. In 1965, he joined the All Mauritius Hindu Congress. He also attended the London Constitutional Conference on Mauritius in 1965, and was State Minister of Development under Seewoosagur Ramgoolam from 1965 to 1966 and the Minister of Labour from 1966 to 1967. He became Leader of Opposition from December 1976 to June 1982, and he joined the Mauritian Militant Movement in 1980. He is one of few Mauritians to holds the Queen's counsel title and also to be titled to the Order of St Michael and St George.
Party politics
He founded the Militant Socialist Movement party in 1983. He was elected as prime minister in 1982 for the first time, again in 1983, and for the third time from 1991 to 1995. His years as prime minister were marked with social tension, due to continuous hostility of the then-government towards the Muslim community[citation needed]. He was promoted to the rank of Knight by Elizabeth II in 1980. He is also honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards for his continued support for India’s causes and concerns, and for strengthening India’s relationship with Mauritius. He has expressed his country's readiness to establish strong economic ties, particularly in creating technology-based projects with high economic feasibility. Jugnauth is credited with the legacy of Mauritius' "economic miracle" of the 1980s - a set of liberal policies such as the creation of a duty-free trade zone and establishing Mauritius as a leader in textiles production - which allowed the island to develop into an economic powerhouse in the region. His time in office was also marked by controversy and social tensions between various ethnic groups.[citation needed]
The Founder of the MSM
Jugnauth founded the Militant_Socialist_Movement (MSM) on the 8th of April 1983 after the MMM/PSM alliance broke.
Re-elected at the general elections held on the 23rd of August 1983, Anerood Jugnauth once more served as Prime Minister. At the general elections held on the 15th of September 1991, he was once more elected and continued to serve as Prime Minister.
After he lost the general elections held on the 20th of December 1995, he resigned as Prime Minister. From December 1995 to September 2000, he reorganised the structures of the MSM.
Although the MSM was not in power during that period, most of the projects implemented were either conceived or initiated by the Government of Sir Anerood Jugnauth.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth stood as candidate at the by-election held in constituency No. 9 (Flacq/Bon Acceuil) in April 1998 but was defeated. He immediately initiated the idea of an MSM/MMM federation which eventually took shape in January 1999. However, the Federation was dissolved after the defeat of its candidate at the by-election held on the 19th of September 1999.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth founded the MSM/MMM Alliance together with Paul Bérenger, leader of the MMM, on the 14th of August 2000, based on equal sharing of power. At the general elections held on the 11th of September 2000, he is elected as first member of constituency No 7 (Piton/Rivière du Rempart) and was appointed as Prime Minister.
Prime Minister
Swept to power in 1982 in a dramatic election in which his MMM-PSM alliance won all seats in the Legislative Assembly. When he took the office, the country was wrecked by chronic unemployment, rapidly rising inflation and the infinite expectations of a volatile and highly politicised electorate. All this was set against the background of the island's potentially explosive melting pot of different races, cultures and religions, drawn from three continents.
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Within months of his election victory, he saw his massive and unassailable majority collapsing before his eyes as his political party tore itself apart through bitter in-fighting over personality and policy. He presided over the country's rapid industrialisation.
Yet, Jugnauth, the British-trained barrister from a humble rural Hindu background, not only survived, but against all expectations, snatched victory out of sure defeat, rode out political scandals that would have wrecked the career of most politicians and went on to lead his country into a new era of prosperity and stability. He presided over the country's rapid industrialisation, the Mauritian 'economic miracle' which is the envy of so many countries in the world today.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigned as Prime Minister on the 30th of September 2003 and was sworn on as President of the Republic of Mauritius on the 7th of October 2003.
Family Life
Jugnauth married Sarojini Ballah on 18 December 1957 and he is the father of two children: Pravind and Shalini (now Mrs Malhotra). He is the grandfather of five grandchildren: Anusha, Divya, Sonika, Sonali and Sara.
President
In 2003, he handed the leadership of his party to his son Pravind Jugnauth. He announced that "he had reached the end of this road". Jugnauth was elected to the ceremonial post of president in 2003. After five years in office, he was re-elected by the National Assembly in a unanimous vote on 19 September 2008, supported by both the government and the opposition.
He now stays at Château of Réduit with his wife Lady Sarojini and also is very strict on yoga as he mentioned in the News that he had kept a special trainer for his yoga classes .Being nearly 80 years ,he is still very fit and young.
Titles
Sir Anerood Jugnauth has been knighted by the Queen of England and also form parts of the queen counsel and Privy Council of the queen.He was appointed as knight Commander of the order of St Michael & St George and also obtained first class of the Japan Order . The Titles he conquered by the constitution mentions that being a member of parliament for more than 20 years he will use Post nominal MP for Presidency Period. There are some title by date:
- Queen's Counsel(1980)QC
- Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council(1983)PC'
- Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George(1988)KCMG
- Grand Prix of the Order of La Pléiade (1984)OLP
- Honourary Doctorate from Aix-Marseille University (March 1985)
- Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris Causa) from the University of Mauritius (May 1985)
- Order of the Rising Sun (January 1988)
- Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (March 1990)GOLH
- Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean(2003)GCSK
Jugnauth will bear the title Right Honorable for life and the title Excellency while he is president.He is also entiltled to use MP post nominal and Prefix as he was MP for more than 35 years .[2]
Achievements
The history of Mauritius will retain forever the various achievements of Sir Anerood Jugnauth and the MSM.This is just a reminder of some of the achievements which are visible everywhere in the country.
Restructured the Mauritian economy, paving the way for the « economic miracle » : from acute unemployment in the early 80's to full employment in the mid 80's and 90's.
- Introduction of friendly policies to attract foreign investors (set up the MEDIA).
- Transformation from a monocrop-based economy to a newly industrialised economy. Put Mauritius on the path to become a cyber island).
- Development of the Tourism Industry.
- Creation of new pillars of the economy : the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, the Offshore Business Centre, the Mauritius Freeport and an international financial services centre.
- Helped the growth of small & medium industries (setting up of SMIDO).
- Modernisation of the country's principal gateways, namely the new SSR International Airport and the development and transformation of our port into a modern regional maritime platform.
- Development of modern road network across the island, including Phoenix - La Vigie Highway , the Pamplemousses/Grand Baie road and the Saint-Jean fly-over.
- Construction of several new primary and secondary schools.
- Construction of the Anjalay Stadium, the Maryse Justin Stadium and new Youth Centres.
- Development of the new complex of the University of Mauritius .
- Rapid expansion of the Telecommunications sector.
- Major development in the energy sector, especially water supply.
- Construction of low-cost houses.
- Improving the education sector be it pre-primary, primary, secondary or tertiary.
- Setting up of a new ministry to promote manpower training (the IVTB saw day light).
- Promotion and development of arts and culture.
- Decentralisation of Health care through the setting up of Primary Health Care Centres, Community Health Centres and Area Health Centres.
- Consolidation of the social welfare system.
- Setting up of various legislations or amendments to existing legislations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.
- Creation of the right conditions to help women to have a greater share in the socio-economic development of the country.
- Introduction of appropriate legislation to protect the environment.
- Ensuring the overall development of the co-operative sector.
Implementation of agricultural diversification.
- Introduction of several incentives for the fishing community.
- Formulation of irrigation development strategy.
- Implementation of several incentives for small planters (duty free vehicles, etc.)
- Implementation of several projects for efficient field mechanisation among small planters, namely :
- The Prime Minister's National Derocking Scheme
- The consolidation of small farmer lands into more viable units such as LAMUS (Land Area Management Units).
- Replication of Farmers Service Centres operating under the Farmer's Service Corporation in all factory areas
- Credit schemes for small farmers for field derocking, mechanisation and replanting
- Incentives given to agriculture producers under the Agricultural Development Certificates Scheme
- setting up of the Sugar Investment Trust.
- Setting up of the National Development Unit to enable infrastructural development in both rural and urban regions.
- A network of Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) was set up to advise the population on various matters relating to administrative procedures.
- Promotion of an integrated development in Rodrigues. Various sectors were developed : agriculture and livestock.
Jugnauth - Father of the Mauritian Miracle
The level of economic and social development achieved by the successive MSM-led governments during the period 1983-1995 and September 2000 to date under the leadership of Sir Anerood Jugnauth had been spectacular and led to a new era of prosperity and stability - Mauritius has become the "economic tiger of the Indian Ocean ".
A comparison of the social and economic indicators of 1983 versus 2001 indicates the tremendous progress achieved under Jugnauth's farsighted leadership.
References
- ^ http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/president
- ^ "Jugnauth re-elected Mauritius president", AFP, September 20, 2008.