Audio By Carbonatix
Veteran Mauritian politician Navin Ramgoolam was sworn in as prime minister for his fourth term on Wednesday, a decade after he last left power, following his coalition's dramatic triumph in a general election.
His Alliance du Changement (ADC) coalition won a landslide 60 of the 62 national assembly seats with 62.6% of votes in Sunday's ballot.
Ramgoolam took the oath of office during a brief ceremony at State House, the official residence of President Prithvirajsing Roopun, in front of a selection of lawmakers, foreign diplomats and top civil servants.
Afterwards, the 77-year-old Ramgoolam, who previously served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2014, told reporters that the country had voted with rage and that he intended to transform it.
"There is a communion between us and the people. We will work to lift the country from the hell," he said.
In 2006, Ramgoolam launched a programme to cut bureaucracy and simplify taxes to diversify the $10 billion economy from tourism, textiles and sugar exports.
Since then country of about 1.3 million people, which markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, has grown as an offshore financial centre and been consistently ranked the easiest place to do business in Africa by the World Bank.
Despite steering the Indian Ocean archipelago to 7.0% economic growth last year, outgoing Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth's popularity appeared to have been badly dented by a cost of living crisis and corruption allegations.
Last month Jugnauth, who had been in office since 2017, negotiated an agreement for Britain to cede the Chagos Islands while retaining the U.S.-British Diego Garcia air base.
Latest Stories
-
World Bank pushes regional health strategy to close financing gaps in West and Central Africa
11 minutes -
Britney Spears pleads guilty to reckless driving after arrest
15 minutes -
Parentage, not paternity: Ghana’s proposed compulsory paternity testing bill sparks fears of discrimination against mothers
16 minutes -
Samsung family pays off record $8bn inheritance tax bill
22 minutes -
Spain seizes record amount of cocaine in Atlantic Ocean, authorities say
24 minutes -
Two killed and many injured after car driven into crowd in German city of Leipzig
29 minutes -
KiDi drops another summer jam ‘Signature’ featuring Lasmid
32 minutes -
UAE accuses Iran of renewed drone and missile attacks
33 minutes -
Giuliani recovering from pneumonia and ‘now breathing on his own’
36 minutes -
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settle lawsuit over It Ends With Us film
39 minutes -
Devastating fire destroys house in Okpoi Gonno
50 minutes -
Korle Bu doctors suspend strike action after management intervention
1 hour -
Diaspora African Forum commits to advancing Ghana’s diplomatic agenda
1 hour -
BoG’s negative equity doesn’t mean it is policy insolvent – Attah Issah
1 hour -
Deliver or lose the deal – Roads Minister issues final warning to non-performing contractors
2 hours