Democracy and Political Governance 100. 101. 102. 84 Chapter 3 Mauritius, a country of about 1,260,000 inhabitants according to the figures of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for July 2008, has people from diverse ethnic and religious origins. Mauritians are the descendants of immigrants from India, China, parts of Africa, Madagascar and France mainly. Its ethnic composition was Indo-Hindu (51 per cent), Indo-Muslim (about 17 per cent), Chinese (3 per cent), and ‘the general population’ of African, European or mixed descent (29 per cent) at the end of 2000. Section 31(2) of the constitution and section 3(4) of the first schedule of the constitution refer to four communities in the country. These sections state: “[T]he population of Mauritius shall be regarded as including a Hindu community, a Muslim community and a Sino-Mauritian community; and … the General Population.” The definition of ‘general population’ given in section 3(4) of the first schedule is: “every person who does not appear, from his way of life, to belong to one or other of those 3 communities”. The CRM recognises that the diversity of its population presents Mauritius with both opportunities and challenges. Mauritius must manage it carefully to ensure political stability and extend opportunities to all citizens. The constitution guarantees equal treatment and nondiscrimination to every Mauritian citizen. The BLS also increases political participation and opportunity for minority ethnic groups. While there is an ongoing national debate about the appropriateness of the system in the context of a broader political reform debate, the CRM learnt that there is general consensus that it is necessary to ensure that ethnic minorities participate in politics and that the BLS is achieving this objective. There are proposals to retain the BLS while introducing a proportional representation system to complement the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. Mauritius has been able to develop and maintain political stability and peaceful coexistence between the different sections of its society successfully despite its diverse population. The CRM found that this success is the result of a combination of several factors. First, the electoral system will prevent the unintended consequences of a majoritarian or winner-takes-all system that means that ethnic minorities never enjoy electoral success. Secondly, the Mauritian constitution forbids discrimination on any ethnic, religious or other grounds. Persons who think that their rights have been infringed can appeal to the Supreme Court for redress. In addition, the country now has the Equal Opportunities Act of 2008. Its aim is to achieve equal opportunity for all Mauritians, although it was not in force by July Chapter 3 Democracy and Political Governance 2009. Thirdly, the CRM learnt that Mauritius approaches its diversity pragmatically and tolerantly. The government has the Ministry of Education, Culture and Human Resources (MECHR)] which fosters cultural interaction and understanding between the diverse groups in society, despite criticisms. These are that the ministry has not developed any effective educational programmes to unite Mauritians in general, and the youth in particular, around a common national goal and that the ministry has few initiatives intended to promote understanding. 103. The CRM noted that, apart from government-led measures, Mauritius has the interdenominational Council of Religions. It aims to promote religious tolerance and spiritual understanding. The religious diversity of Mauritius – with its Hindus, Muslims and Christians – requires policies and measures to ensure that Mauritius manages religious tensions effectively, and builds its ability to manage conflict sustainably throughout society. The CRM acknowledges that the Council of Religions is vitally important for managing the religious diversity in the country. However, the CRM noted that a significant weakness of the council is its limited focus on religious issues. The CRM also noted that, despite its critical role, the council was underresourced and required increased support from the government. 104. The CRM learnt, from the CSAR, meetings with various stakeholders and a visit to the island of Rodrigues, that there is considerable inequality in the country. The Creoles are among its major victims. This inequality manifests itself in various ways. High numbers of Creoles are poor, suffer from high levels of unemployment and have low levels of education. They are also poorly represented in senior positions in the civil service and the private sector. In addition, Rodrigues, where Creoles are in the majority, is generally poorly developed. 105. The CSARdoes not provide data to determine the extent of this inequality. The government consequently does not have reliable data about the extent to which various ethnicities enjoy equal access to opportunity. This significantly limits its ability to act appropriately. The CRM acknowledged the 1982 amendment to the constitution. This prohibited collecting census information about ethnicity. The CRM noted that, in the absence of disaggregated ethnic data, it is not easy for the government to address inequalities across different groups or to assess how effectively it is implementing the Equal Opportunities Act of 2008 for specific ethnic groups. 85