Copyright © 2025 by Sanjay Jagatsingh
Rightly described as a basket case by two famous British academics in the 1960s, Mauritius went on to become a development success in a short timeframe. One of the factors behind this prosperity is the unique version of the FPTP system which she has been using since 1967. The problem is that for the past 25 years mainstream politicians have basically been haggling about which type of autocracy is best for Mauritius by trying to replace it with a mixed system. This would be a complete disaster for Mauritius which is now, thanks to two decades of an extreme version of Voodoo Economics, a notch away from junk status.
This book has been written primarily to help avert this calamity by critically evaluating all the main propositions for electoral reform since 2002 using an extensive list of essential criteria. It also proposes a much simpler solution based on the recasting of an alleged defect with the current system and a thorough analysis of electoral data which is neither compensatory nor parallel and which complies with an UNHRC ruling without losing any of the extraordinary advantages of the FPTP.
From the Preface
Since then I have kept thinking about electoral reform, written over a hundred articles on it scores of which appeared in mainstream media, exposed on a radio station how a typical proposal would have been catastrophic, designed clips to illustrate some of the dangers of moving to a mixed system and even published a guide on how to analyse manifestos and pick candidates via three frameworks two of which establish the electoral system as a key component of governance and a source of competitive advantage while the third assumes politicians are aware that we’ve got a gem which should not be carelessly tampered with.
This book has benefited from conversations with a small group of brutally-honest people to whom I had kindly asked that they try to tear down different versions of my proposal. I am thankful for their feedback.
From Chapter 1 –
European Heaven
European Heaven
British parliamentary
system
German engineering
French cuisine
Italian romance
European Hell
Italian parliamentary
system
French engineering
British cuisine
German romance
From Chapter 5 – Reform proposals since 2002
Collendavelloo Select Committee Report
On the negative side it contained unsubstantiated claims, made suggestions that would limit the freedom voters had in a GE (it recommended that party leaders that don’t get elected should get a free pass to re-enter parliament via a PR seat) and failed to comment on the implications of the calculations of seats allotment via a PR compensatory method (D’Hondt) it presented that were catastrophic given the typical moves that are made on the local political chessboard. The latter outcome was besides in contradiction with the central objective of the whole exercise namely of not going against the will of the electorate. It also waxed lyrical about party lists while failing to reach the rigour and depth of analysis which is required for matters of this importance.
From Chapter 6 –
Evaluation criteria
Suitability of electoral system
Another couple of features of the local political chessboard that preclude PR systems are that all governments since 1967 were the product of political alliances and the speed with which parties change partners. See, a typical ticket split is 35 for the dominant partner – this was the case for the winning side in GE1995, GE2010 and GE2024 – and the rest, 25, for one or more minority partners. Now if there’s a 60-0 and you’re allocating 20 PR seats in a compensatory fashion, all 20 of them will go to the losing alliance. If the 25 MPs of the minority partners in government join forces with the opposition at some point in time they will have a total of 45 MPs which will be 10 more than what the dominant partner in government has and this will lead to the collapse of government. Nothing tells us that the new opposition will not try to cozy up with either partner in the new government within the same term.
From Chapter 8 –Roadmap for Mauritius
Will Mauritius make the right moves?
It’s important to know that PR has been rejected by voters three times in Mauritius. The first time was in 1956 when it was at the centre of a by-election which the Labour Party won. The second one was in GE1967 when the Independence Party led by the Labour Party, which was for FPTP while the main opposing group preferred PR, won. The third and final time was in GE2014 when the LP/MMM alliance suffered a massive electoral setback after they had proposed to make significant constitutional changes including moving to MMP.
Ramgoolam who has four years left in his fourth term as PM wanted, back in 2023, to be in the driver’s seat again so as to leave a legacy. However the political honeymoon after the clean sweep of GE2024 didn’t last long and since the June 2025 budget the population has been up in arms mainly against the change in eligibility for the BRP. Surely the PM will not want to be remembered as the one who threw accountability out of the window, ushered in an era of chronic political instability and transformed Mauritius into an autocracy but rather to seize the opportunity to have extensive consultations with the population to work towards an electoral system which maximises governance and ask them to eventually approve the proposed electoral reform in a referendum which would be a first for Mauritius.
Benefits of reading this book
l Help put the debate on electoral reform in Mauritius and elsewhere on a firmer footing and avoid its minefields by using more than a dozen essential criteria which are usually ignored, thereby potentially saving countries from decades of babbling
l Learn about the great version of the FPTP which Mauritius has used to help prove one Economics Nobel wrong and which may be useful in post-conflict situations
l Find out how this awesome electoral system can be improved in a few easy steps
l Access a 9-point roadmap for electoral reform in Mauritius
l Enable policy-makers to master this crucial issue fast
l Understand why the dynamics of the debate globally will likely shift in a very predictable way
l Grasp the essential ingredients to design a future-proof electoral system
Fixing the FPTP is available on Apple Books (https://apple.co/4rrNBps).
Copyright © 2025 by Sanjay Jagatsingh
