Labour Party (Mauritius)

Labour Party
Leader	Navin Ramgoolam
Founder	Dr Maurice Cure
Founded	23rd February 1936
Headquarters	7 Avenue Guy Rosemont, Port Louis
Ideology	Social democracy, Democratic socialism
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International
National Assembly of Mauritius	29 / 69
Website
http://www.labourparty.mu/
Politics of Mauritius Political parties Elections

The Labour Party (French: Parti Travailliste) (PTR) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius, and one of the three main Mauritian political parties along with the Mauritian Militant Movement and the Militant Socialist Movement. The Labour Party was founded in 1936 by Dr Maurice Cure based on the British Labour Party with the vision and determination of promoting workers' rights and freedom as well as compensation including a higher wage rate with paid leaves. The movement was encouraged by 55 conferences held by the leaders of the party throughout the country. Among other goals were the initial resolutions to obtain suffrage for the working class, representation in the Legislative Council, the organization of a Department of Labour, the prohibition of capitalist exploitation of sugar plantations, as well as the overall implementation of socialist values among Mauritian government agencies.

The founders of the Mauritian Labour Party are Dr. Maurice Cure, Jean Prosper, Mamode Assenjee, Dr. Hassenjee Jeetoo, Barthelemy Ohsan, Samuel Barbe, Emmanuel Anquetil, Godefroy Moutia, and Pandit Sahadeo. The Labour Party remains the oldest major political party in the Republic as it forms a coalition government elected firstly in 2005 and lastly in the 2010 general elections. The government is formed under the Labour Party Leader, Navin Ramgoolam who has been leading the party since 1991.

Following the death of Dr Maurice Cure in 1955, Emmanuel Anquetille became leader of the party until he was imprisoned and sent to the island of Rodrigues for making strikes and encouraging workers to form trade unions for better rights and working conditions.

The arrival of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam in 1958 marked a major history for the party which turned itself from the very basic principle for workers' rights to a new vision and policy, the independence of the Country which was devastated with poverty and famine led by the British Empire. Following the Labour party victory in 1967, a constitutional agreement was made in parliament following the numerous conferences in Lancaster and London, United Kingdom. Then coalition government including the Labour Party, Independent Forward Block & Muslim Action Committee sealed the pact for Independence. Then Labour Party led by Dr Ramgoolam, Veerasamy Ringadoo, Satcam Boolell, Harold Walter in coalition with the Muslim Action Committee led by Abdool Razack Mohamed & the Independent Forward Block led by the Bissoundoyal brothers, Lall Jugnauth and Anerood Jugnauth pushed a motion in the legislative council to provide for an independent country announced for March, 12th 1968.

Following the Hung parliament in 1976, it formed a coalition government with the Mauritian Social Democrat Party led by Sir Gaetan Duval. In 1982, the party suffered from a several electoral defeat from the emerging MMM led by Paul Berenger & Harish Boodhoo. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam resigned to make way for the first elected MMM prime minister, Anerood Jugnauth.

From 1983 to 1995, the Labour Party suffered various issues including its electoral support from the population. In 1984, the members of the party proposed to then leader, Satcam Boolell to dissolve the Labour Party and to integrate the Militant Socialist Movement which was a new created political party and the majority party in parliament. However, in 1995, the Labour Party came back in power with the support of the MMM. Navin Ramgoolam became prime minister.

In the 2000 legislative elections, the party was part of a coalition with the Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval, which won 36.6% of the popular vote and eight out of 70 seats. In the 2005 elections, the party was part of the Alliance Sociale, which won 42 out of 70 seats.

In the general election of 2010, the party formed the majority of L'Alliance de L'Avenir, which regrouped the Mauritius Labour Party, the MSM and the PMSD. The Alliance de L'Avenir won the general election with 41 seats against 18 seats for L'Alliance du Coeur, which was led by the MMM and 1 seat by the FSM.However, on 6 August 2011 the Alliance broke. As a result, only the Mauritius Labour Party, the PMSD and MR formed the government.

The modern goals of the Mauritian Labour Party are to guarantee equal opportunity to all citizens regardless of race, religion, sex, or class and to secure a healthy and clean environment for future generations.

Parliament Results

References

See also

• Official web site

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