Executive Summary 3. DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE 1.19 Standards and codes. Mauritius has signed and/or ratified more than 30 international standards and codes and about 20 regional instruments. Examples of the former include: (i) the Charter of the United Nations (UN) (adhered to in 1968); (ii) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted and proclaimed on 10 December 1948); (iii) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (acceded to on 12 December 1973); and (iv) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (acceded to on 12 December 1973). Examples of the regional instruments include: (i) the Constitutive Act of the AU (ratified in April 2001); (ii) the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1990) (ratified in June 2002); (iii) the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (signed on 6 July 2004); and (iv) the Durban Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002), adopted by the AU Summit in July 2002. 1.20 However, many of the signed standards and codes are yet to be domesticated. For example, Mauritius has not yet ratified the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. It is clearly necessary for Mauritius to ratify and domesticate the various conventions more rapidly. 1.21 Preventing and reducing intrastate and interstate conflicts. Mauritians come from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. They are descendants of immigrants mainly from India, China, parts of Africa and Madagascar, and France. The CSAR quotes the 1972 population census. This states that 51.5 per cent of the Mauritian people at that time were Hindu, 16.6 per cent Muslim, and 2.7 per cent Sino-Mauritian, and lists 29.2 per cent as the ‘general population’ (of African, European or mixed descent). These figures had not changed much by July 2009. Moreover, a 1982 constitutional amendment bars the recording of ethnicity during census counts. 1.22 6 Mauritius’s diverse population is both an opportunity and a challenge. Mauritius has, so far, managed it carefully to ensure democracy, political stability and good governance. Mauritius has done so using several tools. First, is its electoral system, which is a combination of a first-past-the-post (FPTP, 62 seats) and best-loser system (BLS, eight seats) for its National Assembly to avoid a winner-takes-all situation. Second, it has a constitution that guarantees nondiscrimination on any grounds, like ethnicity or religion. Finally, Mauritius passed the Executive Summary Equal Opportunities Act in 2008. This ensures equal opportunities for all Mauritians, although it was not in force by July 2009. However, the country needs to address perceptions that the Creole population is marginalised. This is seen in various ways. They include the fact that most Creoles live in absolute poverty and in poorly developed Rodrigues, compared with the main island, and that the Mauritian government has not done enough to change this. Although it was impossible to determine the exact level of the inequality in opportunities for Creoles, the CRM’s visit to Rodrigues Island gave a very useful insight into the relatively poorer conditions of the mostly Creole population that inhabits the island. The government needs to continue to manage internal conflicts well. It should therefore consider abolishing the ‘general population’ category so that Mauritians can freely state the ethnic group to which they belong. 1.23 Mauritius has never been in conflict with any of its neighbours since independence. However, this should not lead to complacency. The potential for conflict is always present. 1.24 Promoting constitutional democracy, periodic political competition, freedom of choice, the rule of law, citizens’ rights, the supremacy of the constitution, national security, and law and order. Mauritius has successfully established very strong democratic credentials on the African continent and globally. It is a multiparty parliamentary democracy designed after that in Britain. It has held nine general elections since 1968. A smooth transfer of power followed each election. Two issues need to be urgently addressed: political party funding and the type of electoral system (First past the post (FPTP) or proportional representation) it should adopt. 1.25 Concerns about national unity and law and order revolve round the police and its true character and role. According to the CSAR, the Mauritius Police Force (MPF) must enforce the law fairly, prevent crime and protect the community with integrity and sound judgement. The MPF has four main ‘lines’ of service: the land police force, air wing surveillance delivered by the Helicopter Squadron, a paramilitary wing provided by the Special Mobile Force, and a naval wing provided by the National Coast Guard. In addition, there are six other lines (divisions or units). They include the Passport and Immigration Unit. The Disciplined Forces Service Commission (DFSC) and the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB) perform the oversight function of the force. 7