National holiday:
Independence Day, 12 March (1968)
Constitution:
12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992
Legal system:
based on French civil law system with elements of English common
law in certain areas; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October
2003) and Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February
2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM (since 5
July 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president and vice president elected by the National
Assembly for five-year terms (eligible for a second term); election
last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held in February 2007); prime
minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president,
responsible to the National Assembly
election results: Karl OFFMANN elected president and Raouf BUNDHUN
elected vice president; percent of vote by the National Assembly -
NA%; note - Karl OFFMANN stepped down on 30 September 2003
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly (70 seats; 62 elected by popular vote,
8 appointed by the election commission to give representation to
various ethnic minorities; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AS
38, MSM/MMM 22, OPR 2; appointed seats - AS 4, MSM/MMM 2, OPR 2
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
Alliance Sociale or AS; Hizbullah [Cehl Mohamed FAKEEMEEAH];
Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian
Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER] (in coalition with MSM);
Mauritian Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Charles Xavier-Luc DUVAL];
Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH] (the governing
party); Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY];
Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
various labor unions
International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol,
IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTO