THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF MAURITIUS 18. The executive authority in Mauritius is vested in the President whose authority under the Constitution may be exercised by the President directly or through officers subordinate to him. The President, acting in his own deliberate judgment, appoints as Prime Minister, the member of the National Assembly who appears to him best able to command the support of the majority of the members of the Assembly, and he shall also appoint, in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the other ministers from among the members of the National Assembly as well as the Attorney-General. 19. The country being a parliamentary democracy is led, through Cabinet, by the Prime Minister and Ministers whose functions are to advise the President in the Government of Mauritius. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the National Assembly for any advice given to the President by or under the general authority of the Cabinet and for all things done by or under the authority of any minister in execution of his office. 20. The Constitution also provides for the position of Leader of the Opposition who shall be appointed by the President. 21. The State of Mauritius holds free and fair national and local elections at regular intervals. The Constitution provides for an Electoral Supervisory Commission which has a general responsibility for the supervision and the registration of electors for the election of members of the Assembly and the conduct of elections of such members. The Constitution provides for the National Assembly to consist of 70 members of whom 62 are elected in accordance with the firstpast-the post system and the remaining 8 are allocated seats from among the best losers at general elections on a community and party basis, in order to ensure a fair and adequate representation of each community. 22. In 2002, provision was made for a decentralised form of Government in the island of Rodrigues by setting up the Rodrigues Regional Assembly which is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy for specified matters in relation to Rodrigues (such as agriculture, child development, employment, environment and tourism). Members of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly are elected by citizens of Mauritius who are residents of Rodrigues. 23. The Rodrigues Regional Assembly has power, inter alia, to propose and adopt Bills in relation to its areas of responsibility, which Bills, when adopted by Parliament shall be known as Regional Assembly Laws. 10