2015 Mauritian municipal elections

During the previous municipal elections, held on 9 December 2012, the then-opposition Remake 2000 alliance, comprising the MMM and MSM, won a majority of seats on the councils of Quatre Bornes and Port Louis, and secured all 18 seats in Beau Bassin-Rose Hill. The 2012 elections were the first municipal polls to be held since a female quota took effect earlier that year, which mandated that women make up no less than one-third of contestants in local elections. The alliances later shifted, with the MMM entering a coalition with the Labour Party, and the MSM forming Alliance Lepep with the PMSD and Muvman Liberater. Alliance Lepep won the 2014 snap parliamentary election in an upset, defeating Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam's Labour-led coalition. Shortly after assuming office, the Alliance Lepep government, led by Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, scheduled early municipal elections in 2015, seeking to capitalise on its parliamentary victory and the opposition being in a state of disarray. == Electoral system ==

The elections were conducted using the plurality block voting system. Amendments to the Local Government Act, which Jugnauth's government introduced shortly before the elections, resulted in an increase in the number of seats on all five municipal councils from a combined 90 to 120. All council wards would thereafter return four members instead of three. As such, the membership of the Municipal City Council of Port Louis rose from 24 to 32, with the capital having eight wards. Seats on the Municipal Town Councils of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and Vacoas-Phoenix each increased from 18 to 24, with both towns having six wards. The Municipal Town Councils of Curepipe and Quatre Bornes, on the other hand, each expanded from 15 to 20 members and had five wards. Alliances and groups that fielded more than two candidates were required to ensure that two-thirds of their contestant lineup was not of the same gender. If a group did not comply with the gender quota in a municipality, its candidates, while still allowed to contest the elections, could only run as independents. The president of Mauritius, on the advice of the prime minister, sets the dates of the municipal elections. Eligible candidates had to be least 18 years old and residents of the municipality in which they run. Voters were also required to be at least 18 years old to register. After the elections, each council elects a mayor and a deputy mayor. == Groups and candidates ==

A total of 539 candidates, including 174 women, were registered to contest the elections across the five municipalities, an increase from 347 in 2012. Port Louis had the largest share of candidates, at 188. Curepipe was the only other municipality to have over 100 contestants, with 107, followed by 89 in Vacoas-Phoenix and 85 in Quatre Bornes. Beau Bassin-Rose Hill had 70 candidates, the fewest among the municipalities. The MMM, led by Paul Bérenger, The Labour leader also claimed the elections would not be free and fair, and that voters risked facing repercussions for supporting his party. Unlike in previous elections, the political party affiliation of candidates contesting under the banner of an alliance was listed on the ballot. == Campaign ==

Many groups reportedly had a lower presence during the campaign period than in the 2014 parliamentary election. The two major blocs, Alliance Lepep and the MMM, frequently clashed during the campaign, and many of the contesting groups reportedly had similar platforms. Prime Minister Jugnauth did not actively campaign, delegating the task to other senior members of Alliance Lepep. Jugnauth expressed concern about potential low voter turnout and stated that municipal residents who refused to cast a ballot should be stripped of their voting rights. The MMM contested the elections at a time it was suffering from internal divisions, stemming from the party's defeat in the 2014 parliamentary election and some members expressing discontent at Bérenger's refusal to step down as party leader. Coupled with the Labour Party's absence, observers predicted that the elections would witness low voter turnout. Many dissatisfied MMM supporters reportedly preferred to abstain rather than vote for Alliance Lepep or other alternatives. The Rezistans ek Alternativ party presented itself as a "credible alternative" to the major blocs, Alliance Lepep campaigned on increasing autonomy for each municipal council. Included in the bloc's manifesto were plans to implement a smart city model, with free Wi-Fi in designated areas, aimed at increasing internet access, especially in working-class neighbourhoods. The alliance also promised to construct pedestrian zones in each municipality, which would be utilised for cultural, commercial and artistic events, and to build hawker centres to accommodate street vendors. Jugnauth claimed the MMM was not campaigning as a single group and that it had maintained a tacit alliance with the Labour Party, which Bérenger denied. Despite the MMM's internal turmoil, Bérenger expressed confidence in the party's chances and believed the elections would deliver a rebound for the MMM. == Conduct ==

President Kailash Purryag issued the election writs on 4 May. The nomination day for contestants to register their candidacies occurred on 23 May, and had until 26 May to withdraw if they intended to do so. Groups that failed to comply with the gender quota had two hours after nominations closed at 15:00 to implement the required changes or risk disqualification. Days before the election, MMM MP Reza Uteem and several MMM candidates, including Lord Mayor Jenito Seedoo, were reportedly assaulted by MSM members in the Tranquebar neighbourhood of Port Louis. One of alleged attackers implicated was Mahmad Jaunbaccus, the husband of Alliance Lepep MP Roubina Jaddoo. The group, which had gone to inquire about illegal posters claiming the MMM had received money from the British American Investment Company, subsequently filed a police report. Uteem denounced the violence and urged MMM supporters to remain calm. The MSM members also accused the present MMM lawmakers of assault. On election day, polling stations were open from 7:00 to 18:00. By midday, voter turnout had reached only an average of 11%, and Electoral Commissioner Irfan Rahman said many polling stations were virtually deserted. Vote counting began the day after the election. Citing an intention to increase transparency, Rahman announced that each polling station would display the results on a board as vote counting took place, a practice he said was inspired by the conduct of elections in Madagascar. == Results ==

Alliance Lepep secured a landslide victory, winning all 120 seats on the municipal councils. Despite achieving a clean sweep, the bloc garnered less than 50% of the vote across the five municipalities. The MMM placed second in most wards, behind Alliance Lepep, Lord Mayor Seedoo of the MMM was among the defeated councillors, while two of his predecessors, Mahmad Kodabaccus of the PMSD and Muvman Liberater's Gérard Grivon, won seats. Ten women were elected to the council. On 23 June, the newly inaugurated Port Louis councillors elected Mohammad Khooleegan of the MSM as lord mayor, and Chris Loïc Dick of the PMSD as deputy lord mayor. Beau Bassin-Rose Hill In Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Alliance Lepep secured all 24 council seats, with the MSM winning nine, Muvman Liberater receiving eight, while seven went to the PMSD. The Beau Bassin-Rose Hill councillors were sworn in on 22 June. That day, the council elected Ken Fong of Muvman Liberater as mayor, and Alain Cerveaux of the MSM as deputy mayor. Curepipe In Curepipe, Alliance Lepep toppled the MMM's control over the municipality, winning all 20 council seats. The MSM and PMSD each captured eight seats, while four went to Muvman Liberater. Quatre Bornes In Quatre Bornes, Alliance Lepep captured all 20 council seats, with the MSM securing 10, the PMSD receiving seven, while three seats went to Muvman Liberater. the council elected Atmaram Sonoo of the MSM as mayor, and Arline Koenig of the PMSD as deputy mayor. Yetty lost out on securing the ward's fourth seat by a margin of 113 votes. The Vacoas-Phoenix councillors were sworn in on 23 June. That day, the council elected Navin Ramsoondur of the MSM as mayor, and Muvman Liberater's Rajen Kanaksabee as deputy mayor. == Aftermath ==

The elections saw a voter abstention rate of 65%, Many municipal residents reportedly declined to participate due to the diminished authority of the councils and the short timespan between the 2015 polls and the 2014 parliamentary and 2012 municipal elections. Prime Minister Jugnauth stated he was pleased with the election outcome and said a starkly different result would have been a "great personal discouragement" for him. Rezistans ek Alternativ, which received a combined 7% across the five municipalities, expressed satisfaction with the result. The party characterised the high abstention rate as a protest against traditional parties, and said the country was in a phase of political transition. Subron called on these parties to publicise their revenues. The MMSD filed an electoral petition in July 2015, challenging the result in ward 4 of Curepipe. The group requested a recount and called on the Supreme Court to authorise the electoral commission to scrutinise all ballots in the ward, including those that were invalidated. The MMSD also demanded that the court declare the Alliance Lepep candidates' election in ward 4 null and void. Guimbeau claimed the printing of the ballots had caused confusion among voters. He stated that the ballots contained two blank spaces that were on both sides of the MMSD's election symbol, leading many electors to cross both boxes, or the wrong one, resulting in the invalidation of these votes. The Supreme Court rejected the MMSD's case in 2017, determining that it lacked evidence for irregularities that could have affected the election outcome. == References ==