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1976 Mauritian general election

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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 +/–
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.
  1. ^ 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

  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