Lalit proposes 106 MPs and 15-minister government in Mauritius

Mauritian party Lalit is proposing increasing the National Assembly to 106 members and limiting the government to 12 to 15 ministers, with no junior ministers. The proposals are contained in its submission to the Constitutional Review Commission, Defimedia reports.

Lalit wants Parliament to elect the Speaker from among its members, followed by the Leader of the House, who would become prime minister after being appointed by the president of the Republic. MPs would then elect the government team as a bloc, while the prime minister, each minister and the Cabinet as a whole could be removed by the Assembly, according to Defimedia.

The party also wants voters to be able to recall their MP through a petition overseen by the electoral commissioner. It is calling for kreol to become an official language of Parliament alongside English, for Mauritius to be defined as a secular state, and for sovereignty and decolonisation guarantees to be strengthened.

The proposed Assembly would comprise 21 four-member constituencies, including Rodrigues, as well as one representative for Agalega, one for the Chagos and 20 additional seats. For the latter, Lalit proposes either a “Best Losers” system without community classification or proportional representation based on party lists, Defimedia reports.

These proposals extend the consultation on the place of Creole in Parliament, which ended on 22 September in Mauritius.