Leader of the Opposition (Mauritius)

The Leader of the Opposition (French: Leader de l'opposition) of the Republic of Mauritius is the Member of Parliament who leads the Official Opposition in Mauritius. The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government.

This office is a constitutional one guaranteed by the laws of the country. The incumbent officeholder automatically becomes 7th in the order of precedence. The current Leader of the Opposition is Shakeel Mohamed who was appointed on April 15, 2024.

Overview

The political party or party alliance which wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government and its leader usually becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister selects the members of the composition of the Cabinet from elected members of the Assembly, except for the Attorney General who may not be an elected member of the Assembly. The political party or alliance which has the second-largest majority forms the Official Opposition and its leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition.^[1]

According to Section 73 of the Constitution of Mauritius, there shall be a Leader of the Opposition who shall be appointed by the President, where the President has occasion to appoint a Leader of the Opposition, he shall in his own deliberate judgment appoint –

(a) where there is one opposition party whose numerical strength in the Assembly is greater than the strength of any other opposition party, the member of the Assembly who is the leader in the Assembly of that party; or

(b) where there is no such party, the member of the Assembly whose appointment would, in the judgment of the President, be most acceptable to the leaders in the Assembly of the opposition parties:

Provided that, where occasion arises for making an appointment while Parliament is dissolved, a person who was a member of the Assembly immediately before the dissolution may be appointed Leader of the Opposition.^[2]

List of leaders of the opposition

|15?

Parties

  Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD)

  Union Démocratique Mauricienne (UDM)

  Independent Forward Bloc (IFB)

  Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM)

  Labour Party (PTR)

  Rodrigues Movement (RM)

  Militant Socialist Movement (MSM)

See also

• Africa portal
• Politics portal

• Prime Minister of Mauritius
• Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius
• Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius
• Government of Mauritius

References

1. "National Assembly - Introduction". Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
2. "Leader of Opposition". Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
3. Houbert, Jean (April 1994). "Sydney Selvon, Historical Dictionary of Mauritius, second edition. London: Scarecrow Press, 1991, 285 pp., £26.25, ISBN 0 8108 2480 9". Africa. 64 (2): 300–301. doi:10.2307/1160994. ISSN 0001-9720.