Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius

The Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius is a senior member of the Cabinet of Ministers in the country .He/she is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.Having the same name ,this position is not to be confused with the Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius who is just a senior member of the cabinet and is under the Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet hierarchy .He/she may be revoked by the President still acting on the advice of the Prime Minister .The Deputy Prime Minister is a senior member of the cabinet but is not the first person to hold the office of Prime Minister in case of death or resignation of the latter .He/she is considered as a cabinet minister with the capacity to carry certain tasks as directed by the head of the government .According to the constitution of the republic ,there shall be a Prime Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister who shall be appointed by the President.The Deputy Prime Minister is the first person to hold the office of Prime Minister and head of government in case the latter is absent from Mauritius or is by reason of illness or of section 60(5) unable to perform the functions conferred on him by this Constitution.The President, by directions in writing, authorize the Deputy Prime Minister or, in his absence, some other Minister to perform those functions and that Minister may perform those functions until his authority is revoked by the President.^[1]

Whereas the Deputy Prime Minister may have the power to hold the office of Premier when the latter is not able to perform duties ,he/she does not succeed to the Prime Minister in case of death or resignation of the office holder .He/she becomes the Acting Prime Minister until the majority party elects a new leader and thus advice the President to appoint him/her as Prime Minister .The Deputy Prime Minister may nevertheless propose candidacy to the leadership of the party forming the government .In case he/she is elected Leader ,the President therefore appoints the person as Prime Minister .

The Deputy Prime Minister is often a position given to the junior party leader in a coalition government where the senior party leader is named Prime Minister and the leader of the junior party is appointed as his deputy .The same has happen in United Kingdom elections in 2010 where Conservative leader David Cameron was appointed as Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal democrats Nick Clegg was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister .

The actual Deputy Prime Minister is Rashid Beebeejaun and has take office from July 2005 and is serving in the cabinet of Navin Ramgoolam.

History

The office of Deputy Prime Minister was provided in the original constitution of 1968 which became the law of the country .Abdool Razack Mohamed was first appointed as such and also implemented the law of Best Loser System .The Mauritian Social Democrat Party was rather against the evolution of Mauritius into an independent country. At that time ,the Mauritian Labour Party allied itself with the Muslim Action Committee so as to make a majority and they won the elections of 1967 .

Sir Ramgoolam became 1st Prime Minister and Mohamed became 1st Deputy Prime Minister .The powers and department as well as legislation of the Deputy Prime Minister is decided by the Prime Minister .In all cases ,the deputy is assigned to a ministerial portfolio .When the leverage is higher ,a rather important Ministry is given to the Deputy and where the leverage is weak ,a rather symbolic and less important ministry is assigned to the Minister .

1976 and onwards

The person to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister for the longest run was Sir Gaetan Duval who held the office for a period of 11 years from 1976 to 1982 and from 1983 to 1988 .^[2] and the second person to hold the office for the longest run after Duval is Mohammed who held the office from 1967 to 1976 for a period of 9 years .

Communal Role

This position is merely to appease the demands of the minority communities of the population ,namely Christians and Muslims .In order to receive votes from all communities so as to ensure a comfortable majority in the parliament ,most of the time ,leaders of the majority community namely the Hindus ,conclude electoral alliance with those minority parties so as to enjoy governmental majority .

In 1967 ,Sir Ramgoolam proposed Mohammed as his Deputy so as to receive votes from the Muslim community ,same as in 1983 when Anerood Jugnauth proposed Duval as his deputy so as to receive votes from the Christian community .Therefore the post of Deputy Prime Minister is most of the time used to ensure and cover the needs and representation of the minorities of the Country .

List of Deputy Prime Ministers