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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