Mauritius opposition wins country's election by a landslide

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Mauritius' opposition coalition has won the country's election by a landslide, taking all seats in the country's parliament in a major rejection of the current government.

According to results released at various constituencies across the country throughout Monday, the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth failed to get any of the 62 seats available for voters to directly decide on.

Jagnauth conceded defeat before all results were announced, saying his Militant Socialist Movement coalition was headed for a huge defeat as it became clear that the opposition was winning in all of the country’s 21 constituencies.

The Alliance for Change coalition's win will see the return of Navin Ramgoolam as the country’s prime minister. He served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Jugnauth, in office since 2017, had been seeking another five-year term in the Indian Ocean island nation, but his government faced corruption allegations after recordings of politicians and business people were leaked online.

“The population has decided to choose another team. I wish good luck to the country,” Jugnauth said on Monday.

Official results that will include two seats from Rodrigues Island are expected to be released Tuesday, but the opposition has already won all 60 seats that have been announced.

Another eight lawmakers will be nominated by the Electoral Supervisory Council to make it a total of 70 parliamentary seats.

At least 1 million people were registered to vote on Sunday in the 12th election since Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.

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.

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An election rally is held in the Mauritian capital, Port Louis, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024 ahead of elections to be held this weekend. (La Sentinelle via AP)

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jagnauth speaks to the press in Port Louis, Monday Nov. 11, 2024. (La Sentinelle via AP)

Mauritius opposition wins country's election by a landslide

Leader of the Labour Party, Navin Ramgoolan, casts his vote in Mauritian elections in Port Louis, Sunday Nov. 10, 2024. (La Sentinelle via AP)

Mauritius opposition wins country's election by a landslide

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving the administration just weeks after it was revealed he added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans, according to two people familiar with the matter Thursday, marking the first major staff shake-up of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Waltz came under searing scrutiny in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on the encrypted messaging app Signal, which was used to discuss planning for a sensitive March 15 military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen. A far-right ally of the president, Laura Loomer, has also targeted Waltz, telling Trump in a recent Oval Office conversation that he needs to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the “Make America Great Again” agenda.

Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, is also expected to depart, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move not yet made public. The National Security Council did not respond do a request for comment.

Waltz, who served in the House representing Florida for three terms before his elevation to the White House, is the most prominent senior administration official to depart since Trump returned to the White House. In his second term, the Republican president had been looking to avoid the tumult of his first four years in office, during which he cycled through four national security advisers, four White House chiefs of staff and two secretaries of state.

The Signal chain also showed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop. Waltz had previously taken “full responsibility” for building the message chain and administration officials described the episode as a “mistake” but one that caused Americans no harm. Waltz maintained that he was not sure how Goldberg ended up in the messaging chain, and insisted he did not know the journalist.

Trump and the White House — which insisted that no classified information was shared on the text chain — have stood by Waltz publicly throughout the episode. But the embattled national security adviser was also under siege from personalities such as Loomer, who had been complaining to administration officials that she had been excluded from the vetting process for National Security Council aides. In her view, Waltz relied too much on “neocons” — referring to hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party — as well as others who Loomer argued were “not-MAGA-enough” types.

Waltz was on television as late as Thursday morning, promoting the administration’s agreement with Kyiv that would allow the U.S. to access Ukraine’s critical minerals and other natural resources. As reports began to circulate that Waltz could be leaving the administration, Loomer appeared to take credit in a post on the social media site X, writing: “SCALP.”

“Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions at the NSC under Waltz also depart,” Loomer wrote in another post.

Loomer had taken a similar victory lap when several other NSC officials were dismissed last month one day after she met with Trump. Those firings included Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, a senior director for technology and national security, as well as other lower-ranking aides.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz listens as President Donald Trump meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a television interview at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a television interview at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)