Democracy and Political Governance Chapter 3 Chapter 3 power remained in the hands of a small minority, and still does, namely in the hands of the former rulers. 69. The country’s population is therefore very diverse in race, language, religion, culture, country of origin, and economic and political systems. It is also very varied, to some extent, in its levels of development, especially in the main island of Mauritius and the island of Rodrigues. 70. These circumstances give the context in which Mauritius exercises democracy and political governance. Mauritius is small, in land mass and size of population. Nevertheless, Mauritius can rightly claim to be big socially, economically and politically. Mauritius is certainly important, sophisticated and complex. 71. 72. 68 The best example of its importance, complexity and sophistication is its language policy. Although there are languages like Hindi, Tamil and Urdu, which are the languages of the ruling elite (Hindu-Muslim), most Mauritians speak Creole. This is paradoxical, because Creole is the main language of a minority of mostly ex-slaves, although many Mauritians speak and identify with the Creole language. Creole literature is also not as developed as English and French. The next most spoken language, even in offices, is French. Nevertheless, the medium of instruction is English. English is also the language of the courts (although they also use French). The country publishes its laws in English. Mauritius is silent on what its official language (or languages) is. However, section 49 of the constitution states that the “official language of the Assembly shall be English but any member may address the chair in French”. Section 33(d) states that one of the four qualifications for membership of the National Assembly is that one “is able to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of the Assembly”. For all practical purposes, therefore, English is the de facto official language of the country, although the law does not state this. It is to the credit of Mauritius that the government and its people are able to handle this linguistic ambiguity, which, from the point of view of public policy, seems to be deliberate and does not threaten democracy. Mauritius has been largely peaceful despite its heterogeneity and occasional internal conflicts, like those that occurred in 1964, 1968 and 1999. The people and their leaders have managed to deal with their diversity. This is a great strength and the country should Democracy and Political Governance continue to build on it as it moves into the future. Furthermore, since independence in 1968, Mauritius has never experienced any conflict with any of its neighbours. 73. Mauritius has a multiparty and parliamentary democracy similar to the British one. It has held nine general elections since 1968. A smooth transfer of power followed each of them. The electoral system is truly competitive, something that has helped to maintain peace, harmony and economic prosperity. This shows what a country can achieve if it allows its political parties to be genuinely competitive, despite the real difficulties associated with pluralism. 74. The country has signed, and subsequently ratified, most international conventions. Sections 3 to 16 of its constitution provide for various rights. There are institutions like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Office of the Ombudsperson that provide the framework for promoting and protecting rights. 75. Another major strength of the Mauritian governance system is the constitution of 1968. It provides for the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary without paralysing the operations of government. It guarantees equality before the law and outlaws discrimination of any kind. Despite occasional amendments here and there, which are justified because the supreme law and subordinate laws need to be responsive to changing times, the 1968 constitution has stood the test of time. 76. The director of audit has repeatedly pointed out over the years, with little response or success, that there are weaknesses in internal auditing. Nevertheless, the Mauritian civil service is generally good. This is important because of the key role that the civil service plays in the governance of a country. The civil service has faithfully served the various governments and cooperated actively with the private sector in implementing the policies of the government. That is good for democracy. However, cooperation with the private sector has to be monitored carefully so that the civil service does not hide its inefficiencies or surrender its duty to serve the democratically elected leaders, which the private sector cannot do. 77. One of the greatest threats to democracy today is actual or potential corruption. Fighting corruption is not easy anywhere in the world. Mauritius has fought hard against corruption, especially since the 1990s, by passing appropriate laws like the Prevention of Corruption 69