Karteikarten
Electoral System
Karten in diesem Stapel (16)
- 1Mr Chineah and Dear Friends Greetings. The purpose of today's presentation is to discuss about the electoral system in mauritius and the question of reforming it. Our team consists of Sweta Boyjoo, Jayranee Berharry and myself, Preeya BhindaSo let us have a look at the outline of our presentation
- 2Outline:Mauritius has always held elections under FPTP system which it inherited from Britain, even if different versions have been adopted since the first elections of 1885 to the last one of 2010. One can distinguish four electoral formulae that have been used , all based on the FPTP plurality system
- 3From 1885 to 1947,the Council comprised 10 elected representatives out of a total of 28 (the remaining members were either nominated or ex officio and the Governor). There were nine constituencies, coinciding with the nine districts, with eight electing one member and one (Port Louis) returning two representatives.
- 4From 1948 to 1958, we had a variable multi-member constituency mode with 19 elected representatives out of a total of 35 members. The 19 legislators came from 5 multi-member electoral districts with three returning 3 members each, one choosing 4 representatives (Port Louis) and one selecting 6 members (Plaines Wilhems and Black River).The suffrage was extended but it was still not universal as embodied by the concept of ‘ one man one vote’;
- 5From 1959 to 1966, the country was divided into 40 one member constituencies and election was again FPTP- based. 40 representatives were elected and there were three ex officio members, the Speaker and a maximum of 12 nominated members appointed by the Governor. Universal suffrage was introduced at the General Elections of 1959;As from 1967 Mauritius has a Legislative Assembly of 70 members made up of 62 directly elected MPs and 8 Best Losers. The Best Losers are intended to mitigate for relative ethnic under representation. The elections are held under the FPTP system with the 62 directly elected representatives coming from 20 three member constituencies in Mauritius and one 2 member district in Rodrigues.
- 6Functioning of the electoral system The Mauritian Electoral System comprises of: First-Past-The-Post vote system. Best Loser System. Mauritius is divided in 20 Constituencies of 3 members each.There are 2 members from Rodrigues.
The voter has to vote for 3 candidates.
3 candidates having obtained the most votes will be elected.
There are 8 best Loser seats - 7First Past the Post System A voting system in which voters are required to indicate on the ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives more votes than any other candidate wins.Advantages:
- 8Disadvantages The main drawback of FPTP is the inequitable distribution of seats to votes in certain elections. There is a very high disproportionality between seats won and votes polled which leads to significant under-representation of some parties. TDis: The FPTP is the most unfair formula as shown by the very high difference between seats and votes in many elections.Bottom of Form
the UK General Elections of 2005 which use a FPTP voting system , 52 % of votes were cast for unsuccessful candidates. - 9Dis: This is perhaps the most fundamental criticism of FPTP, that a large majority of votes plays no part in determining the outcome........
- 10The best loser system:What is the best loser system and why was it introduced? The Best Loser System is a system which represents ethnicity in the Parliament of Mauritius. It allocates eight seats to the best losers of the appropriate of an underrepresented community in the national assembly.“the objective of the system is to ensure that the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of the state is reflected in its National Assembly”.
Narrain & Ors v Electoral Supervisory Commissioner & Ors 2005 SCJ 159 - 11Advantages of the Best Loser System: It has contributed in safeguarding the representation of ethnic minority in the national parliament without regards to election results.Continued: The BLS establishes an opposition in 60-0 cases
The Best Loser System has emphasised on the importance of including minority ethnic groups in the process of politics in Mauritius - 12Disadvantages of the best loser system: It is an outdated system for a modern Mauritius which has surpassed communal division during the years from its independence.cont: It brings aspects of ethnicity and communalism in the Mauritian society.
Communal aspects which are used in the best Loser system are outdated as the last population census dated back in 1972 and is no more relevant to the actual Mauritius. - 13Best Loser seats are allocated by the use of a very complicated formula using a two tiered system. MPs are elected, first within the appropriate community, then within the appropriate party with the appropriate community.In 1987, Finette was appointed with 47 % of the votes while Bérenger did not go to Parliament with 49 % of the votes even if both are from the General Population. The case of Bérenger in 1987 shows the paradox and the cruelty of the BLS. When one seat was awarded to a member of the General Population, Bérenger was in the ‘appropriate community’ but not in the ‘appropriate party’ and the seat went to Finette of the PMSD.
- 14There is no by election to replace a vacancy for a Best Loser seat. In case of a vacancy, the seat is allotted to the most successful unreturned candidate available, belonging to the same community and party as the outgoing member.
- 15Relevancy of the best loser system in Mauritius:The last population census was done in 1972. This information is possibly outdated and inaccurate to this day.For example, where the in 2000s,
“in the year 2000 will apply the figures of the 1972 Census creates a situation which may not reflect reality”. Parvez Carrimkhan v Tin How Lew Chin & Ors 2000 SCJ 264 - 16Every candidate for the election may declare to which community he belongs to if he wishes, as per section 12 (4) of the representation of the people act. For BLS to function properly, every candidate must declare to which community he or she belongs.
Informationen
- Beschreibung
- Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Karteikarten am Electoral System, erstellt von Preeya Bhinda am 04/10/2016.
- Erstellt von
- Preeya Bhinda
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