Paul Bérenger

Paul Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) at the December 1976 elections. The remaining 2 seats were secured by Independence Party (Labour-CAM) candidates James Burty david and Heeralall Bhugaloo.[5] The general elections of 1976 turned out to be a three-way contest between the Independence Party (Labour-CAM coalition) , the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD), and the MMM. There was a hung parliament, with 34 of the 70 seats in the National Assembly going to the MMM, 28 seats to the Labour Party, and 8 seats to the PMSD. Ramgoolam remained in office, however, by forging a coalition with the PMSD for a bare majority. Jugnauth was appointed Leader of the Opposition.

At the June 1982 general elections Paul Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) at the top of the list as a candidate of the MMM-PSM coalition. His running mates Kailash Ruhee and Devanand Routho secured the remaining seats in that constituency.[6] The MMM won all 60 directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly (except for two seats allocated to Rodrigues Island). Anerood Jugnauth became Prime Minister, Harish Boodhoo was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister. Bérenger became the Minister of Finance.

In early 1983, Bérenger proposed a constitutional amendment removing the executive powers of the Prime Minister and entrusting them to the Cabinet collectively. In this he was supported by Boodhoo, but Jugnauth strongly objected. Bérenger then sought a parliamentary motion of no confidence to have Jugnauth replaced as Prime Minister by Prem Nababsing. Before the Legislative Assembly could vote on the matter, however, Jugnauth dissolved Parliament without any notice and called for new elections in August 1983.

At the August 1983 general elections Paul Bérenger stood as candidate of the MMM in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes). But this time he was not elected whilst his rivals Michael Glover, Anil Gayan and Raj Virahsawmy of the MSM-Labour coalition were elected in that constituency.[7]

Bérenger was once again candidate of the MMM in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) but he was not elected. His rivals of the MSM-Labour coalition (Michael Glover, Balkrishn Gokulsing and Raj Virahsawmy) were elected to the Legislative Assembly.[8]

At the August 1987 general elections Bérenger was elected to the Legislative Assembly under the MSM-MMM coalition in Constituency No. 19 (Stanley and Rose Hill) behind his running mates Jayen Cuttaree and Jean Claude de L'Estrac.[9]

In 1993, Jugnauth dismissed Berenger and all Members of the MMM from the government and formed a new majority with the other parties.

In January 1995 Bérenger and Jean Claude de L'Estrac resigned from parliament, triggering by-elections in Constituency No.19. Bérenger was elected under the banner of the Labour-MMM coalition.[10]

As a candidate of the Labour-MMM coalition Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 19 (Stanley and Rose Hill) at the December 1995 elections, ahead of his running mates Siddick Chady and Jayen Cuttaree.[11] This alliance won the 1995 elections with a 60-nil sweep of mainland Mauritian constituencies. Ramgoolam became Prime Minister with Bérenger as his Deputy. In 1997, however, Ramgoolam dismissed Bérenger and formed a new government without the MMM.

In 1999, the national opinion polls showed that Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam's Labour Party was the favorite to win the elections due in 2000. In an hour-long meeting organized by Bodhoo, Berenger made up his quarrel with Jugnauth and agreed to an electoral alliance and a power-sharing deal, should they win the election. The MSM and the MMM would each contest 30 of the 60 mainland seats. If successful, Jugnauth would serve as Prime Minister for three years; he would then resign, assume the (largely, but not entirely, ceremonial) office of President of Mauritius and make way for Bérenger to succeed him as Prime Minister, with Jugnauth's son Pravind Jugnauth as his Deputy.

The MSM/MMM alliance won 54 of the 60 seats. Jugnauth became Prime Minister again, appointing a 25-member Cabinet with Bérenger as Deputy Prime Minister.

The power-sharing agreement was briefly in doubt when, in 2001, Bérenger faced a charge of aiding and abetting a murder suspect to escape arrest. Swaleha Joomun, a widow, was suing the deputy premier for facilitating the escape of Bissessur who was wanted in connection with a triple murder which occurred on 26 October 1996 in Port Louis. Joomun's husband was a victim of the murder.[12][13] Bérenger defended himself by saying that the reason he had helped Bissessur was because the latter wanted to reveal what he knew on the escadron de la mort (death squad). A second private prosecution was lodged against Bérenger by Raju Mohit (a member of the Movement Republicain) but in both cases, the Director of Public Prosecutions of Mauritius gave a Nolle Prosequi.[14]

In 2003, Bérenger duly succeeded Jugnauth, who assumed the Presidency, as agreed.

In 2003, Berenger took office as Prime Minister following the resignation of then Prime Minister Jugnauth after serving as his deputy for three years. He led the MSM/MMM coalition government for a period of one year and nine months before his alliance lost the elections to the Labour Party in 2005. He was the first and only non-Hindu Prime Minister.

Paul Berenger remained Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius for three years and following the agreement, Anerood Jugnauth resigned in September 2003 after serving for three years.

Berenger subsequently tried to run on his own but lost the 2005 elections to Ramgoolam's Labour Party

Paul Berenger has been the leader of the opposition since 2007 after the MMM lost the general elections in 2005 to the Alliance Sociale coalition led by Dr Navin Ramgoolam. The MMM also lost the subsequent elections in 2010.

In January 2013, Berenger announced that he had tonsil cancer in a press conference - he let the population know of his plans for treatment in France and that Alan Ganoo was to lead the MMM during his absence. Overall he appeared in good spirits and was confident of a return to mainstream politics. Different sources relayed by the lexpress.mu website also announced the entry into politics of his son, Emmanuel Bérenger.[15][16] Following his successful treatment for cancer, he returned to his position as Leader of the Opposition on 1 October 2013.

After his party ended its alliance with the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), Berenger negotiated an alliance with the Labour Party on a power sharing deal whereby each party would nominate 30 candidates and, if successful in the election, would provide an equal number of Cabinet Ministers. Navin Ramgoolam would remain Prime Minister until a new constitution could be adopted to enhance the powers of the President, before resigning to make place for Bérenger to succeed him. This alliance lost the December 2014 elections, however, and Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, who had come out of retirement to lead L'alliance Lepep (Alliance of the People) was sworn in Prime Minister again, at the age of 84. In October 2019 Berenger went into the general elections with MMM not contracting any alliance with anyone. The MSM of Pravind Jugnauth won an overwhelming victory, although short of a three-quarter majority. Dr. Arvind Boolell of the labour party was appointed as leader of the opposition, as Navin Ramgoolam lost in his constituency. MMM managed to elect only nine MPs. The elections results are being challenged in a court of law as it is believed that they were rigged and they were everything but free and fair.