1976 Mauritian general election

General elections were held in Mauritius on 23 December 1976. They were the first general elections to be held since independence on 12 March 1968 and came nine years after the previous elections in 1967. Although elections had been scheduled for 1972, they were cancelled by the Labour–PMSD–CAM coalition government due to political unrest. The year prior to these elections was marked by the May 1975 Students protest riots.

The Mauritian Militant Movement won the most seats, but a coalition government was formed by the Independence Party and the Mauritian Social Democrat Party. Around 400 candidates representing thirty-one parties contested the election, but only three parties won seats.^[1]^[2]

Electoral system

The voting system involved twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of Rodrigues, and eight seats were filled by the "best losers".^[3] Voter turnout was 88%.^[4]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats			+/–
Party	Votes	%	Constituency	Best-loser	Total	+/–
Mauritian Militant Movement	469,420	40.9	30	4	34	New
Independence Party^[a]	461,949	38.1	25	3	28	–3
Mauritian Social Democrat Party	200,559	16.5	7	1	8	–19
Independent Forward Bloc	26,902	2.2	0	0	0	–12
Mauritian Democratic Union	12,505	1.0	0	0	0	New
Progressive Socialist Party	9,807	0.8	0	0	0	New
Rodrigues People's Organisation	6,376	0.5	0	0	0	New
Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement	5,372	0.4	0	0	0	New
Progressive Party of the South	2,223	0.2	0	0	0	New
Republican Centre Party	1,636	0.1	0	0	0	New
Labour Unity Liberals	800	0.0	0	0	0	New
Mauritius Muslim Democratic League	266	0.0	0	0	0	New
Mauritius People's Progressive Party	249	0.0	0	0	0	New
Communist Party of Mauritius	244	0.0	0	0	0	New
Mauritius Muslim Rights	236	0.0	0	0	0	New
Mauritius United Party	186	0.0	0	0	0	New
Movement and the Mauritian Socialist Youth	174	0.0	0	0	0	New
People's Democratic Party	143	0.0	0	0	0	New
Union of the General Population	92	0.0	0	0	0	New
Independents	14,021	1.2	0	0	0	New
Total	1,213,160	100	62	8	70	0
Source: Nohlen et al.

^ The Independence Party was an alliance of the Labour Party and the Muslim Committee of Action. It had also historically included the Independent Forward Block.

References

^ Mauritius Inter-Parliamentary Union
^ Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p618 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
^ Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election EISA
^ Mauritius: 1976 Legislative Assembly election results EISA

[5] The Independence Party was an alliance of the Labour Party and the Muslim Committee of Action. It had also historically included the Independent Forward Block.

[1] Mauritius Inter-Parliamentary Union

[2] Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p618 ISBN 0-19-829645-2

[3] Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election EISA

[4] Mauritius: 1976 Legislative Assembly election results EISA

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