Jump to content

1967 Mauritian general election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General elections were held in Mauritius on 7 August 1967. Ethnic violence broke out in Port Louis between Muslims, Creoles and Chinese. Anti-riot police used tear gas to restore peace.[1][2]

The result was a victory for the Independence Party, an alliance of the Labour Party, Independent Forward Bloc and Comité d'Action Musulman, won 43 of the 70 seats,[3] allowing Labour leader and incumbent Prime Minister Seewoosagur Ramgoolam to form a government. Voter turnout was 89%.[4]

Electoral system

[edit]

The voting system created twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of Rodrigues, and eight seats were filled by a system known as "best losers" whereby the electoral commission would appoint eight unsuccessful candidates to ensure that ethnic minorities were fairly represented.[5]

Results

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats
ConsBLTotal+/–
Independence Party444,73754.6639443+13
Mauritian Social Democrat Party354,19343.5323427+19
All Mauritius Hindu Congress7,0560.87000New
National Socialist Workers Party1,2380.15000New
Mauritius Liberation Front8430.10000New
Mauritius Workers Party5010.06000New
Mauritius Young Communist League4520.06000New
Rodrigues Party2320.03000New
Independents4,4250.54000New
Total813,677100.0062870+30
Total votes273,557
Registered voters/turnout307,68388.91
Source: Electoral Commission, EISA

The Independence Party consisted of the Labour Party (26 seats), the Independent Forward Bloc (12 seats) and the Muslim Committee of Action (5 seats).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mauritius: 1967 Legislative Assembly election". EISA. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  2. ^ "Port Louis – Rioting against Independence at the General Elections of 1967". Vintage Mauritius. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p618 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
  4. ^ Mauritius: 1967 Legislative Assembly election results overview EISA
  5. ^ Mauritius: Background to the 1967 Legislative Assembly election EISA