Leader of the Opposition (Mauritius)

Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Mauritius Chef de l'opposition
Coat of arms of Mauritius
Flag of Mauritius
Incumbent Paul Bérenger since 17 December 2014
Style	The Honourable
Reports to	The President of the Republic
Appointer	Kailash Purryag
Term length	Same as the National Assembly
Inaugural holder	Sir Gaëtan Duval
Formation	12 March 1968
Salary	Rs 1.9 Million

The Leader of the Opposition (French: Leader de l'opposition) of the Republic of Mauritius is the Member of Parliament who leads the Opposition party in the National Assembly of Mauritius. This office is a constitutional one guaranteed by the laws of the country. The current office holder becomes automatically 7th in the order of precedence. The current Leader of the Opposition is Paul Bérenger who was appointed by President Kailash Purryag on December 17, 2014.

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.

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.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

#	Incumbent	Portrait	Tenure		Election/s	Political affiliation
			Took office	Left office
Mauritius (Commonwealth realm)
1.	Sir Gaëtan Duval		7 August 1967	23 December 1971	1967		Mauritian Social Democrat Party
2.	Sookdeo Bissoondoyal		23 December 1971	23 December 1976	1967		Independent Forward Block
3.	Sir Anerood Jugnauth		23 December 1976	11 June 1982	1976		Mauritian Militant Movement
(1)	Sir Gaëtan Duval		11 June 1982	21 August 1983	1982		Mauritian Social Democrat Party
4.	Paul Bérenger		21 August 1983	15 September 1987	1983		Mauritian Militant Movement
5.	Prem Nababsing		15 September 1987	15 September 1991	1987
6.	Dr. Navin Ramgoolam		15 September 1991	Continued	1991		Labour Party
Republic of Mauritius
(6)	Dr. Navin Ramgoolam		Continued	20 December 1995			Labour Party
7.	Nicholas Von Mally		20 December 1995	11 September 1997	1995		Rodrigues Movement
(4)	Paul Bérenger		11 September 1997	11 September 2000	1995		Mauritian Militant Movement
(6)	Dr. Navin Ramgoolam		11 September 2000	5 July 2005	2000		Labour Party
(4)	Paul Bérenger		5 July 2005	4 April 2006	2005		Mauritian Militant Movement
8.	Nando Bodha		4 April 2006	27 September 2007	2005		Militant Socialist Movement
(4)	Paul Bérenger		27 September 2007	23 January 2013	2005 2010		Mauritian Militant Movement
9.	Alan Ganoo		23 January 2013	1 October 2013	2010
(4)	Paul Bérenger		1 October 2013	15 September 2014	2010
10.	Pravind Jugnauth		15 September 2014	17 December 2014	2010		Militant Socialist Movement
(4)	Paul Bérenger		17 December 2014	Incumbent	2014		Mauritian Militant Movement

Parties

•       Labour Party (PTR)
•       Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD)
•       Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM)
•       Militant Socialist Movement (MSM)

See also

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