Parliament of Mauritius
| Mauritian National Assembly | |
|---|---|
| 10th National Assembly of Mauritius | |
.svg) |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
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Maya Hanoomanjee
Since December 10, 2014 |
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| Structure | |
| Seats | 62 plus 8 non-voting members |
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Political groups
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Government (42) Opposition (27) |
| Elections | |
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Last election
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December 10, 2014 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Parliament House, Port Louis | |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Government (42)
Opposition (27)
The National Assembly is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly until 1992, when the country became a republic. The Constitution of Mauritius provides for the parliament of Mauritius to consist of the President and the National Assembly. The parliament of Mauritius is modelled after the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, where members of parliament are voted in at regular general elections, on the basis of a first past the post system.
It consists of 70 members, 62 directly elected for five-year terms in multi-member constituencies and 8 additional members, known as "best losers", appointed by the Electoral Supervisory Commission to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are equitably represented. The Government is primarily responsible to the National Assembly and the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of a majority of its members.
The National assembly is supreme and determines the functioning of various constitutional institutions of the country.
The President and Vice-President are both elected by the assembly for a five-year term.
The National Assembly is essential to determine which party/group forms the government and therefore the executive of the country. As per the constitution, the prime minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of the assembly. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the President appoints the person who has the support of the House, or who is most likely to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party in the assembly.
The political party or alliance which has the second largest majority forms the Official Opposition and its leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition.
The Assembly is made of up of 70 members, of whom 62 are directly elected in 21 constituencies. The island of Mauritius is divided into 20 constituencies returning three members each and that of Rodrigues is a single constituency returning two members. After a general election, the Electoral Supervisory Commission may nominate up to a maximum of 8 additional members in accordance with section 5 of the First Schedule of the Constitution with a view to correct any imbalance in community representation in Parliament. This system of nominating members is commonly called the best loser system.
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Wikipedia