The island of Mauritius, praised as an African success story, will hold its national election

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius will hold a national election Sunday, when Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth seeks to win a second term as leader of a nation often praised as one of Africa's success stories.

Mauritius, which sits about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) off Africa's east coast, is recognized as one of the continent's most stable democracies and has developed a successful economy underpinned by its finance, tourism and agricultural sectors since gaining independence from Britain in 1968.

Jugnauth, 62, has been prime minister since 2017, when he succeeded his father. An alliance of parties led by his center-left Militant Socialist Movement won a majority of seats in Parliament to cement his leadership in 2019. Mauritius has a long history of parties joining in alliances to contest elections. The MSM has led the government since 2009.

Jugnauth's five-party People's Alliance will be challenged by opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam's Alliance for Change in this weekend's election.

Mauritians will vote for 62 seats in Parliament, and the party or alliance with a majority forms the government and chooses the prime minister. Another eight lawmakers are nominated by the Electoral Supervisory Council.

The World Bank has described Mauritius, a former colony of sugar plantations, as a “beacon of success for sub-Saharan Africa” and says it has achieved remarkable economic growth since independence. Mauritius was briefly rated a high-income country in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic set it back. It still has one of the highest standards of living in Africa.

The island, well known to tourists for its idyllic tropical beaches, has a population of just over 1 million people. It ranks second in Africa behind Seychelles on the Human Development Index, which ranks quality of life for citizens and takes into account life expectancy, access to education and per capita income.

The country has a strong Indian influence. More than 60% of Mauritians have Indian heritage and people speak Mauritian Creole, a French-based language with some English and other influences.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a U.S. Congress-funded academic institution, said Mauritius’ stability and strong governance have made it a popular destination for financial investment.

“This has translated into high-quality health care, increased educational opportunities, and a 22% increase in per capita income over the past decade,” the center said in a pre-election analysis.

Jugnauth's own image was burnished last month when the British government agreed to give sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Mauritius had claimed the archipelago as its territory for more than 50 years.

Yet a countrywide ban on social media a week ago in response to a wiretapping scandal raised criticism of Jugnauth's government and prompted some political turmoil ahead of the election.

Nicole Beardsworth, a political researcher at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand, said some Mauritians were also left unhappy after allegations of irregularities in the 2019 election.

The wiretapping scandal saw recordings of the private conversations of politicians, police officers, business figures and others published online, prompting the government to block social media sites. The ban was initially ordered to remain in place until after the election but has been lifted. It raised questions from critics if authorities were behind the wiretapping.

The Reporters Without Borders organization, which promotes the right to freedom of information and media independence, said five well-known Mauritian journalists were also tapped and had their conversations leaked, and called for an investigation. The scandal indicated “a widespread system of surveillance" in Mauritius, the group said.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE—Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

The island of Mauritius, praised as an African success story, will hold its national election

The island of Mauritius, praised as an African success story, will hold its national election

LONDON (AP) — Ireland's President Michael Higgins dissolved Parliament Friday, clearing the way for a Nov. 29 election that will determine who controls government.

Prime Minister Simon Harris, who had until March to call an election, had announced the date Wednesday.

A historic coalition government led by Harris' center-right Fine Gael party and its center-left rival Fianna Fail has been in power since the 2020 race ended in a virtual dead heat.

“We did not agree on every issue but we did always work hard and together for the good of the Irish people,” Harris said. “The time is now right to ask the Irish people to give a new mandate.”

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which arose from opposing sides of Ireland’s 1920s civil war, shared a broadly centrist outlook and had alternated holding power to govern Ireland over the decades. The two set aside their differences in 2020 to work together, bringing the Green Party along as a junior partner.

Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin served as premier for the first half of the term and was replaced by Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar in December 2022.

Harris took over when Varadkar stepped down earlier this year.

The left-wing nationalist Sinn Fein party had won the largest share of votes in the election but was shut out of government because it couldn't assemble enough support to govern. Sinn Fein has been shunned by centrist parties because of its historic links to the nationalist militants of the Irish Republican Army and decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein said it was fielding more candidates in its effort to lead the government.

“After a century of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, it is time to make that change, to give Sinn Fein the chance to lead and the chance to deliver,” said party President Mary-Lou McDonald. “In Sinn Fein you will get a government that will move heaven and earth to make housing affordable, to bring home ownership back into the reach of working people and to restore hope for a generation.”

Ireland, which has a population of 5.2 million, has faced many of the same challenges of other countries since its last election: the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruptions due to the war in Ukraine and a surge of migrants from overseas.

Martin said the next five years would be challenging for the Irish economy, noting the impact from global conflicts and a potential change in U.S. trade policy change.

“The greatest threat to the Irish economy is external, and we need experience and we need leadership that has already demonstrated its capacity to weather significant events and shocks to lead us through the next challenging five years,” Martin said.

Harris said the coalition had protected people during coronavirus, supported Ukraine in its war and weathered the cost-of-living crisis.

Housing, immigration and childcare are some of the main issues for voters, he said.

He said he was pleased the government had set aside money to weather any future trade shocks.

“We used to be ridiculed for this,” Harris said. "This is exactly why we have the buffer that is there, is a trans-Atlantic shock or indeed any other shock to our economy, my children will never have to experience the austerity that our generation did.”

Ireland in 2010 faced national bankruptcy over the cost of saving its failing banks. It adopted an austerity program as one of the conditions for an international bailout but rebounded strongly after exiting the bailout in 2013.

FILE - Prime Minister of Ireland Michael Martin arrives at John Hume's funeral Mass at St Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris makes a statement outside Government Buildings ahead of the Dail being formally dissolved for the General Election scheduled for next Nov. 29, in Dublin Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (Gareth Chaney/PA Wire/PA via AP)

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris makes a statement outside Government Buildings ahead of the Dail being formally dissolved for the General Election scheduled for next Nov. 29, in Dublin Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (Gareth Chaney/PA Wire/PA via AP)