A. A. PANOV

Institute of Africa, Russian Academy of Sciences

Keywords: Mauritius, women in politics, interfaith relations, elections

On 5 June 2015, Africa received its fourth female President*. On this day, Amina Gharib-Fakim took the solemn oath of office of the President of the Republic of Mauritius and officially assumed office.

According to the form of the state structure, Mauritius is a parliamentary-type republic. Real political power is concentrated in the hands of the Prime Minister, who represents the parliamentary majority. The President, on the other hand, is appointed by the National Assembly on the proposal of the Prime Minister and is rather a representative figure.

However, the island has already recognized this event as historical. For two weeks, the local press has been full of compliments to Mrs. President, who has suddenly become one of the most popular political figures in the country, despite the fact that she herself has never been involved in politics before and, by her own admission, agreed to the Prime Minister's offer precisely because she considers her position "non-political". Based on Mauritian sources and her own observations, the author of the article reveals the circumstances of her appointment to the presidential post.

BIOGRAPHICAL PORTRAIT

Amina Gharib was born in 1962 in the family of a school teacher Asenji Gharib from the village of Plaine-Magnin. Amina's family belongs to the Muslim community of Mauritius, so, as tradition dictates, she was born in her mother's native village of Firdos Garib - Suriname (south coast of the island). Amina's parents paid great attention to the education of their children, and, as Mrs. President herself now recalls, there was no other entertainment in Plaine-Magnin than the library, where she spent most of her free time.¹

After graduating from the Maeburg Catholic Mission Girls ' Boarding school in 1979, Amina went to study in the UK, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Surrey in 1983 and a PhD from the University of Exeter in 1987.

After receiving a scientific degree, the young doctor of chemistry could continue her studies at the University of Baton Rouge (USA), which provided her with a scholarship, but she chose to return to her homeland, taking a job teaching at the University of Mauritius in the Faculty of agriculture.

In the same year, after studying in London, a young surgeon, Anwar Fakim, also returned to Mauritius, whose sister was a friend of Amina Gharib and dreamed of introducing her to her brother. Following the acquaintance, the wedding took place the following year. Today the Fakim family has two children: son Adam, currently receiving an education-

* The first three are Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia, 2011-present), Joyce Banda (Malawi, 2012-2014) and Catherine Samba-Panza (CAR, 2014 - 2016).

She was born in the UK, and her daughter, Imaan.

Amina Gharib-Faqim's academic career quickly took off. After transferring to the Faculty of Natural Sciences in 1991, four years later she became the first female professor in her country, in 2001 she became head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, which she created at the Faculty, and in 2004 she was appointed Dean of the Faculty, also becoming the first female dean in the history of Mauritius.

Amina Gharib-Fakim, author and executive editor of more than 20 monographs and about 100 scientific articles, a specialist in the Mascarene Islands flora and its use in medicine and pharmacology, is known far beyond the borders of Mauritius. She is a member of the Linean Society of London (2007), the Islamic International Academy of Sciences (2009), the African Institute of Natural Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences (2010), a participant and coordinator of a number of national and international research projects, including those conducted under the auspices of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO, WHO.

In 2011 She founded the Center for Herbal Medicine and Scientific Research (CEPHYR) in the Mauritius science village of Ebene, where she served as Managing Director until her nomination.

When, in 2015, an interviewer for Puen magazine asked the future president why, despite such a brilliant academic career, she never managed to become rector of the University of Mauritius, Amina Gharib-Faqim replied: "Because I am a Muslim." ²

POLITICS AND CULTURE

According to the 2011 census, the Muslim community of Mauritius accounts for about ^17.3% of the country's population3. Here is how the Russian researcher V. P. Krivonogov describes the Mauritian Muslims in his essay: "The Muslims on the island are very noticeable, even purely visually - some of them wear special clothes peculiar only to them. They have their own mosques (about 100), and the cries of the muezzin, calling the faithful to prayer and amplified by powerful speakers, [are heard] in the city of Maeburg several times a day. And this is despite the fact that there were only about 15% of Muslims in the city... Not all Muslims were distinguished by their clothing, and [some of them] do not differ in appearance from the rest of the Indomavrikians... They live mixed with other ethnic groups throughout the island, however... there are also two purely Muslim villages. " ⁴

And here is how Amina Gharib-Faqim herself characterizes the modern Muslim community of Mauritius from the inside, through the prism of her personal experience::

"There is really no [Islamic] fundamentalism in Mauritius. Muslims send their daughters to university. My family, like my husband's, has always been open to the world. Neither my grandmother nor my mother wore a burqa. My father was a practicing Muslim, but he wanted me to have the same opportunities in life as my brother. " ⁵

At the same time, belonging to the Muslim community obviously occupies an important place in the structure of its identity. The Star newspaper quotes the newly appointed president about the role of religion in her life::

"I was born a Muslim, and I am a practicing Muslim. Religious precepts have always been present among the universal values in Islam. I attended madrasas, where I learned Urdu and Arabic... It is necessary to go beyond the simple observance of rituals and move on to actions. Labor also

it is part of the realm of religion, because, after all, your salary is halal only if it is earned honestly, without fraud."⁶

The current state of interfaith relations in Mauritius can hardly be correctly described as a conflict, but there are still some contradictions between the Hindu majority and the Christian and Muslim minorities. At present, this is manifested, as a rule, not so much in the domestic sphere, but rather in the political sphere.⁷ As the American Africanist William Storey so aptly put it, in Mauritius, ethnic, national, and class identities have never formed a single whole, but they are still in a state of " constant mutual contention."⁸. Both Mauritian researchers ⁹ and their foreign colleagues ¹⁰ emphasize that the ethnic factor is traditionally one of the key determinants of electoral behavior of Mauritians ¹¹.

From the outside, Mauritian political life may seem like a chaotic process of creating, changing, and breaking up coalitions and alliances, few of which survive more than one electoral cycle. Former allies unite against each other with their yesterday's rivals, and after some time they can return to the state of the previous status quo.

A closer analysis, however, clearly reveals the dominant principle of these seemingly purely opportunistic and short-term alliances: the two main parties that have the reputation of being parties of the "ethnic majority" - the Labor Party (PT - Partie Travailliste), which has been led by the Ramgoolam family for a long time, and the Militant Socialist Movement (Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM), created by Anerud Jugnauth and now led by his son Pravind, compete with each other, attracting two "second rank" parties to their sides in different combinations - the Mauritius Militant Movement (MMM) and the Mauritius Social Democratic Party (Parti mauricien social democrat). as well as smaller and short-lived parties created, as a rule, after regular internal party splits ¹².

The MMM, led by French-Mauritian Paul Beranger, has been considered the most democratic and multiethnic party of the "Big Four"since its foundation. Founded in 1968 by a group of young left-wing intellectuals, the MMM appeals to voters with a traditionally left-wing agenda and naturally attracts a protest electorate that includes ethnic and cultural minorities who feel discriminated against, including Muslims, as well as low-income Creoles. As for the PMSD, unlike the MMM, on the contrary, it has a reputation as a right-wing party and relies primarily on the Franco-Mauritian bourgeoisie and the well-to-do part of the Creole community. ¹⁴ The Labour Party and the MSM seem to continue to scare off Mauritian Muslims by dominating them with influential Hindu families.

In December 2014, after the government of Naveen Ramgoolam finally lost the support of the collapsed parliamentary majority, early elections were held, in the run-up to which the MMM entered into a coalition with Labor. Their opponents were the People's Alliance (NA - Alliance Lepep) coalition, which was formed by the MSM, the PMSD and the Mouvement Liberater Movement, created after the next split of the MMM by a group of former members led by Ivan Collendavellu. It was he who proposed the candidacy of Amina Gharib-Fakim for the post of the next president of the country on the eve of the elections.¹⁵

By running for president a woman from the intellectual elite, and even belonging to the Muslim community, he secured the support of a solid part of the traditional MMM electorate. The chosen strategy fully justified itself: According to the results of the December 10 vote, NA won ⁵¹ out of 69 seats in parliament16. 84-year-old A. Dzhagnot again took the post of Prime Minister.

FROM ELECTION TO ELECTION

On June 5, 2015, during the inauguration ceremony of Amina Gharib-Fakim as president, an unexpected political scandal occurred. Who lost the parliamentary elections and took the position of leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Beranger, arriving at the Presidential Palace in

mr. Reduit, unexpectedly quickly left the place of the ceremony, without waiting for it to start, or even the appearance of the main character of the celebration.

Prime Minister Jugnauth was quick to accuse Beranger of disrespecting the president. Beranger himself, referring to the heat in the hall, refrained from commenting. However, his party colleague Reza Utim, who accompanied him, explained the hasty departure from the ceremony as a reaction to the disrespect of the opposition leader on the part of the Prime Minister, allegedly by whose will the MMM delegation was allocated seats only in the very last row of Hall ¹⁷.

A week later, Beranger once again attracted the attention of the Mauritian press and public, saying that although he personally welcomes the appointment of Garib-Fakim to the post of president in itself, nevertheless, in specific circumstances, he considers this decision a pure electoral move. One of his allies, Shakil Mohamed, the leader of the Labor parliamentary group, put it even more harshly, accusing the government of using Gharib Faqim and her Muslim affiliation for political purposes, comparing her to "a carrot hung in front of the voters' noses on the eve of elections " ^.18

Mohamed's words are not without foundation. Indeed, the appointment of Gharib Faqim took place two weeks before the Mauritius City Council elections, which can hardly be considered a coincidence.

Here we should go back a few months, to the victory in the parliamentary elections. Immediately after the results were announced by the electoral commission, the name of the next President was officially announced and even included in the Mauritius periodicals.¹⁹ However, at that time, the country had a different president - Rajeswar Kailash Purriag, whose mandate expired only in 2017. And he did not intend to resign prematurely, as he directly stated back in January 2015. ²⁰

Purriag - one of the most prominent members of the PT, in 1987-1991. He served as its General Secretary, and in 1991-1995 as its Chairman. In 1997-2000. - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in Ramgoolam's government, considered one of his most trusted confidants and team members. In 2005-2012, he was the Speaker of the National Assembly, headed a number of ministries (including in the governments of Jugnaut).

Despite the fact that the post of president in the country is considered "non-political" and almost even "honorary", Anerud Jugnauth obviously did not want to work with the "Ramgoolam man" in the team for another two years (especially in light of the unfolding corruption scandal, which will be discussed below). In addition, Mauritians were extremely positive about the news of the upcoming appointment of a female doctor of Science to the post of president and were looking forward to the cherished day of fulfilling their promise.

On 29 May, Pourriag announced his resignation, citing certain agreements with the Prime Minister made on 29 January ²¹. The calculation of the Jugnauth team was fully justified, and according to the results of voting on June 14, the NA candidates won a dizzying victory, taking all 120 seats in the city councils.

(NON -) POLITICAL PRESIDENT

Let's draw a line under the 2014/2015 election cycle and assess the prospects for Garib-Fakim's future work as president, first of all, as a member of the NA team, even if she is not formally part of it.

"Instead of paying attention to all these intrigues," writes the Paris weekly Jeune Afrique, " Amina Gharib - Fakim prefers to maintain the dignity befitting her new position. Her popularity extends far beyond her [Muslim] community, and her occupation of the Presidential Palace (also referred to as Reduit Castle) seems to be met with unanimous approval from the entire island, including the "political party" to which she does not belong, but which has united around her person in a holy alliance."²²

The Mauritian press also did not limit themselves to expressing their delight and admiration for this elegant woman with thick, shoulder-length black hair, which contrasted dramatically with large brown eyes and a dazzling smile, whose portraits in a bright floral dress graced the covers of all the leading print publications in the country in June. Such qualities as intelligence, professionalism, purposefulness and passion for work, charm and creativity were highlighted.

charm and at the same time-simplicity and modesty in everyday life, proximity to the people. Success and achievements in scientific work, international recognition and respect also, of course, did not go unnoticed.

The figure of Amina Gharib-Faqim instantly acquired the features of a kind of persona-a symbol of modern Mauritius: a woman from an ordinary, non-elite provincial family, who achieved brilliant career success and extraordinary authority through her own efforts. By the way, the president's family, which was almost entirely present at the inauguration on June 5, also received a lot of attention.

Newspaper reports were accompanied by photos of Amina Gharib-Faqim surrounded by her parents and children, as well as pictures from the family album, illustrating her both at work and in traditional "female" roles: during a wedding, with a child in her arms, etc. neither the "iron lady" nor the cosmopolitan, out-of-touch, evolutionary intellectual*, but remained true to tradition, a true Mauritian, for whom her family, both her parents and her own, is still an absolute, almost sacred value.

The portrait of the president is completed by Mimi the cat in her arms and a collection of 200 dwarf bonsai trees in the garden. Sincere simplicity and bright personality are inextricably intertwined in her image, which embodies the desired national dream of a golden mean between the cultural conservatism characteristic of the Afro-Asian world and the desire to keep up with the world time.

"Dear Madam President," M. Kusnapen-Gentil, senior editor of a Mauritius tabloid, begins his column, " let us say once again how happy we are. We are happy that for the first time in the history of Mauritius, a woman has become president. We are happy to live in this historic moment for the country, witnessing important changes in the mentality [of citizens] and achievements in the struggle for women's equality. We are also happy that this woman is you. You, who have already repeatedly established yourself as a scientist and professor, both in Mauritius and abroad. You, whose talent and professionalism have been recognized internationally. You are the one who, for mysterious reasons, did not want to see the rector of the University of Mauritius. And now you are the President of Mauritius. At the very top! This is what we dreamed of - this is what we did. " ²³

A columnist for another newspaper, Moricien, one of the most respected on the island, called Amina Gharib-Faqim the"Queen of the Mauritians", similar to the British Queen Elizabeth II, who was formally the first head of state during the dominion period.²⁴

Even well-known critics, Marxist intellectuals from the Struggle movement (Lalit), limited their comments to regretting that the appointment of Gharib-Fakim NA covers up the lack of a real political program for the emancipation of women and evades its development. ²⁵ At the same time, the criticism did not affect the personality of sa-

* Evolute (from French - "developed", "advanced") - a layer of the first generation of African intellectuals, prepared in their colonies by the French colonial authorities (author's note).

moi Gharib-Faqim, focusing on the populist maneuvers of the Jugnauth election coalition.

Such unanimous approval of the president's candidacy, which turned into a state of general euphoria at the time of her taking office, is certainly an important political resource, creating great opportunities even for the holder of this "non-political" post in Mauritius.

What can we really expect from the new president? The constitutional powers of the President of the country are actually extremely small. Perhaps the most significant of them is the right of a suspensive veto on draft laws adopted by the National Assembly (Article 46). In addition, the President opens parliamentary sessions with his speech (Article 56), can establish public services and appoint their leaders (Article 74), and has the right to pardon (Article 75).

That's probably all. All other functions prescribed in the Constitution (appointment of members of the Government, Chairman of the Supreme Court, dissolution of the National Assembly, etc.) are performed by the President "after consulting" with the Prime Minister or simply fixing the balance of power in Parliament that has developed following the election results (appointment of the Prime Minister and leader of the opposition). In this sense, the President of Mauritius can indeed be compared to the British Queen, which is not at all accidental, since the post of President established by the Republican constitution of 1992 actually replaced the post of Governor-General, who had previously represented Her Majesty in Mauritius.

Interestingly, it was the desire to implement constitutional reform and strengthen the office of the president, redistributing the executive functions between him and the Prime Minister, and at the same time dividing these two positions among themselves, that caused the failure of the Ramgoolam-Beranger coalition in the last parliamentary elections.²⁶

By voting for NA, Mauritians actually said "no" to a strong president, anticipating Ramgoolam in this post. Having received the president of their dreams as a result of the election, they, on the contrary, discovered that every stick has, as you know, two ends, and now their popular favorite can only remain "an attractive super-expensive public relations agent, the advertising face of the ruling coalition"²⁷.

However, the author of the last quote, the Mauritian political scientist Rodney Phillips, reassures readers that you should not be pessimistic in advance: "The moral, non-political and symbolic value of her high position goes far beyond the duties of cutting ribbons [at celebrations], kissing children and reading out speeches written for her by someone else. What is important is that it is a screen for political change, the upper house rolled into one, and given its special relationship with the head of government , it is also a necessary safety valve. " ²⁸

"Of course, you don't have much executive power," echoes M. Cousnapin - Gentil, already quoted above, " but you have something much more: the power to exert influence. You said yourself that you will not be a "flower vase president", but a president with your own position. We hope that this will be the case. We hope that you will defend your position if necessary, even in defiance of the decisions and actions of the Government that made you President. " ²⁹

As for Gharib Faqim herself, her ambitions and professional ambition are unlikely to allow her to accept the role of a" flower vase "or" prime minister's seal " for the next five years. "Of course," she says in a recent interview, " the post of president in Mauritius is more honourable [than political]. But as ministers are always immersed in their daily urgent concerns, they do not have time to [reflect on] the most important development issues. Those who have to work on understanding [reforms] in various areas, such as education, economics or science, are the presidential team. The Office of the President should serve as a catalyst in this process and support the Government in its activities. " ³⁰

Obviously, Amina Gharib-Fakim sees her role in consolidating the country's intellectual resources to develop a development strategy that involves turning Mauritius into a scientific and technological center of the Indo-Pacific region linking East Africa and South Asia, which corresponds to the EPA-

according to the government's specific intentions ON.

The entire economic history of independent Mauritius is a constant struggle to diversify the island's once monocultural economy. While until the 1980s the exclusive basis of the Mauritian economy was sugar production, which provided 40 to 60% of foreign exchange earnings, ³¹ the establishment of the free export zone in 1970 created an impetus for the development of the textile industry, which gradually reduced the country's dependence on world sugar demand.³²

The textile boom era of the 1980s was followed in the next decade by a turn towards the development of tourist infrastructure. However, at present, the resource potential of this sphere has reached its limit, including due to the global economic crisis, which slowed down the development of the tourism business, especially in those countries where, due to the geographical distance from the main countries-donors of tourists, the rate was placed on the development of so-called "elite" tourism.

"When you go abroad and say you're going to work in Mauritius, people think you're joking," Gharib - Fakim said when asked by a national newspaper what she sees as Mauritius of tomorrow. - They think that people on the island, where there is sea, sun and beaches, do not work. This strategy has worked well for the development of our tourism sector. [Now] we must diversify our economy and present a new image of our country. This should be a move towards creating an image of a smart island. " ³³

Thus, for the Government of Jagnot, the value of Gharib Faqim is certainly not limited to attracting the votes of the Muslim community in the elections. It is also a link to the national intelligentsia, and a kind of signal to the world community and investors about the beginning of a new stage in the development of Mauritius. The return of the" old lion " to the post of prime minister should not be perceived as just another shuffle of cards in the deck. And let no one be confused by his advanced age. As the events of the 2014/2015 electoral season have shown, Jagnot is in excellent political shape, experiencing, one might say, his "second political youth".

The appointment of Gharib Faqim as President has another important political aspect. It should restore citizens ' trust in national state institutions, which was shaken after a series of high-profile corruption scandals in the first half of 2015.

In general, Mauritius has long had a reputation for a high level of corruption, which annoyingly overshadowed its many achievements and first places among African countries in various ratings. For example, in 2011, thanks to the publications of the infamous Wikileaks Internet site, the content of an official message of an American diplomat dated 2008 became available to the general public, in which he calls corruption in the state structures of Mauritius a grandiose problem in its depth and scale.³⁴ However, until recently, there were still no cases brought against the country's top officials.

In February 2015, just two months after resigning his post, former Prime Minister Ramgoolam was arrested. During a search of his apartment, 220 million rubles were found stored. Mauritius rupees ($6.3 million), the origin of which raised questions from the prosecutor's office. Ramgoolam was soon released on bail, but over the next few months he was arrested three more times, each time receiving new charges against him. As a result, the work of the PT headed by him turned out to be virtually paralyzed.

The Labor Party did not participate in the June municipal elections, limiting itself to calling for a vote of ³⁵ against, and when the author of these lines arrived at their headquarters in Port Louis in June, he was not even allowed on the threshold, explaining through the half-open door that the party currently does not carry out any political activities.

In April, a new scandal broke out on the island related to the revocation of the license of the bank "British American Investments" and the seizure of the accounts of its subsidiary insurance company, convicted of building a financial pyramid scheme in the amount of $690 million. ³⁶ At the same time, the leaders of PT and MMM, whose election campaign was paid for, were also involved in the scandal.

of its assets and, according to their political opponents, not disinterested ³⁷.

Anerud Jagnot, having come to power, announced the beginning of the fight against embezzlement, corruption and nepotism, ³⁸ but NA also found its own "skeletons in the closets". On June 30, 2015, the court found his son Pravind guilty in a 2011 case of abuse of office in the acquisition of a private clinic owned by his sister, Anerud Jagnot's daughter. On July 2, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.³⁹

Amid all these scandals and recriminations, the impeccable reputation of the new owner of Reduit Castle should serve as a lifeline for the Mauritian elites, thanks to which the credibility of the population will be extended at least until the next election cycle.

In this context, the image of a" non-political " figure becomes an additional advantage for Gharib Faqim, creating a certain aura of innocence around her. So far, she is still a stranger to the specific environment in which she suddenly found herself, looking up from the microscope. For the first time in a long time, Mauritians saw "their own person" on the political olympus, with whom they can associate themselves, contrasting the predatory and cynical world of professional politicians who are mired in a struggle with each other for the right to enrich themselves at their expense, which for many has become an end in itself.

This, perhaps, is another explanation for the phenomenon of popularity of Gharib-Faqim: not being elected in general elections, she became a real "people's president", from whom some miracle is now expected with hope.

"As a leading biologist and researcher," Phillips tries to grope for Garib Faqim's future style of work in her new position, " she will seek analytical evidence and broad evidence before reaching a final conclusion, disrupting the established order of things, or taking steps to bring about profound social and economic change. It will value diversity, pay attention to protecting the most vulnerable and preserving fragile ecosystems-which is equally true for the world of plants it studies and for Mauritian society as a whole."⁴⁰

In this elegant metaphor, you can see not only the parting words of the incoming president, but also the request of the Mauritian society for a certain type of policy that is expected from the elected government. There is also a clear understanding of the need for deep socio-economic reforms, which the country is currently on the verge of, and, at the same time, the hope that their implementation will be carried out carefully and carefully, without radically disrupting the usual way of life in Mauritius. We hope that the Government will not forget its social obligations and will act in accordance with the special spirit of the unique Mauritian culture, which is the result of the coexistence of a wide variety of national, ethnic and religious communities on a small island. Relations between them were not always smooth and cloudless, but in the end they managed to develop common principles of cohabitation, mutual respect, recognition of the rights to political representation and common cultural heritage.

-------------------------

^{Murtaza R.} 1 La face cachee de Madame la Presidente // Star (Mauritius). 7 - 13 Juin 2015, p. 2 - 3.

^{Golliau C.} 2 Maurice - Ameenah Gurib-Fakim: "La meritocratic est notre moteur" // Le Point http://afrique.lepoint.fr/presidence-ameenah-gurib-fakim-la-meritocratie-est-le-moteur-de-ma urice-17 - 04 - 2015 - 1922328_2254.php

^3,213. 9 thousand people out of 1.23 million covered by the census. 404.3 thousand (32.7%) profess Christianity, 600 thousand (48.5%) - various branches of Hinduism. See: Housing and Population Census. Volume II: Demographic and Fertility Characteristics. Republic of Mauritius. October, 2012, p. 71.

^{Krivonogov V. P.} 4 Ob etnicheskom, religioznom i yazykovom sostave naseleniya o. Mavrikiy // Vostok/Oriens. 2014, N 4, p. 90 (Krivonogov V. P. 2014. Ob etnichkom, religioznom i yazykovom sostave naseleniya o. Mavrikiy // Vostok/Oriens, N 4) (in Russian)

^{Golliau C.} 5 Op. cit.

⁶ Star. 7 - 13 Juin 2015, p. 3.

⁷ Clashes between members of various ethnic and religious communities in Mauritius have not been uncommon in the recent past. For example, in May 1965 there were major clashes between Indians and Creoles, and in January 1968 between Creoles and Muslims. The last major ethnic unrest, named after the

Subsequently, the" Creole crisis " (malaise Creole), were held in February 1999 (Miles W. F. S. The Creole Malaise in Mauritius / / African Affairs. Apr. 1999. Vol. 98, N 391). As for the relations between Hindus and Muslims, for a long time the latter formed part of the politically unified Indian community. Its split and separation of Muslims occurred under the influence of the Indo-Pakistani conflict, which accompanied the formation of these two states in the historical homeland of the Indo-Mauritians. However, at present, relations between them are quite smooth, as evidenced by the fact cited by V. P. Krivonogov (ibid., pp. 91-92) that mixed Indo-Muslim marriages have often been concluded recently in Mauritius.

^{Storey W.} 8 Science and Power in Colonial Mauritius. Rochester, 1997, p. 183 - 184.

^{Reddi S.J.} 9 Voting Pattern in Mauritius 1967 - 2010 // Journal of Mauritian Studies. 2013. Vol. 7, N 1, p. 1 - 17.

^{Srebmik H.} 10 "Full of Sound and Fury": Three Decades of Parliamentary Politics in Mauritius // Journal of Southern African Studies. 2002. Vol. 28, N 2, p. 277 - 289.

¹¹ In Mauritius, ethnic identity is essentially derived from belonging to a confessional community (with the exception of only a fraction of Sinomavrikians who have converted to Christianity). This situation is a consequence of the British colonial policy, which used the division of the Mauritian population into groups of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and the so-called "general population"to take into account the ethnic and cultural composition of the Mauritian population. The latter group, together with people of European descent, included Creoles who had almost completely converted to Christianity, i.e. people from Africa, as well as their descendants, including those of mixed origin.

¹² PT and MSM coalesced three times. The success of the first two coalitions (1983-87 and 1987-1991) was due to the withdrawal of the Jugnaut faction from the MMM in 1982 and its transformation into an independent party in need of strong allies. The next time a coalition involving the PT and MSM was formed, it was only in 2010 and collapsed a year later: in 2011, the ministers representing MSM resigned from the government in protest against the prosecution of the party's chairman Pravind Jugnauth on corruption charges, and in 2012, Anerud Jugnauth resigned as President of the country.

^{Reddi S. J.} 13 Op. cit, p. 9. In addition to the MMM, some of the Muslims of Mauritius also support a number of parties that explicitly declare themselves Muslim: the Muslim Action Committee, the Muslim Solidarity Front, and Hizbullah.

¹⁴ It is interesting how the PMSD, which relies on the French-Creole population of Mauritius, exactly copies the political structures built by the leaders of the Indo-Mauritian community. Just like in PT and MSM, the management of the PMSD has been owned by the Duval family for several decades, which has effectively turned it into its own family enterprise. Since 1967, the party has been headed by Gaetan Duval. After his death in 1996, his brother Herve and son Xavier-Luc fought for the leadership of the group. Herve Duval managed to beat his nephew and lead the party, but without achieving serious success, he soon left the post and retired from politics. Xavier-Luc, who at that time had created his own Mauritius-based Xavier Duval Party, returned to the PMSD in 2009, taking the chair. Obviously, the next generation of the Duval political dynasty should be represented by the 24-year-old son of the current PMSD leader, Adrien Duval, who was elected to parliament in 2014 and received the post of deputy speaker there (author's note).

¹⁵ Star. 7 - 13 Juin 2015, p. 4.

¹⁶ Including 4 correction points. For more information about the electoral system of Mauritius, see: Tokareva Z. I. Mauritius. Handbook, Moscow, 1992, p. 87. (Tokareva Z. I. 1992. Mavrikiy. Reference Book. M.) (in Russian)

¹⁷ Ameenah Gurib-Fakim intronisee! // Samedi Plus (Mauritius). 6 - 12 Juin 2015, p. 4 - 5.

^{Soormally R.} 18 Shame on Shakeel Mohamed for calling Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim a 'carrot'! // News on Sunday (Mauritius). 5 - 11 June 2015, p. 32.

¹⁹ Maurice 2015. Un almanach complet sur l'ile Maurice d'aujourd'hui. Port Louis, 2015, p. 33.

^{Soormally R.} 20 Op. cit.

²¹ Ibidem.

^{Caslin O.} 22 Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. Du microscope au microcosme // Jeune Afrique. 7 - 13 Juin, 2015, p. 16.

^{Coosnapen-Gentil M.} 23 Chere madame la presidente... // 5-Plus dimanche (Mauritius). 7 Juin 2015, p. 17.

^{Dauvergne J.V.} 24 Reine des Mauriciens! // Le Mauricien. 12 Juin 2015, p. 16.

^{Bunwaree S.} 25 A woman President from the intellectual class - a societal revolution in the making // Le Mauricien. 9 Juin 2015, p. 14.

^{Caslin O.} 26 Anerood Jugnauth, le retour du SAJ // Jeune Afrique. 14 - 20 Decembre 2014, p. 14.

^{Phillips R.} 27 Leadership // Weekly (Mauritius). 11 - 17 June 2015, p. 18.

²⁸ Ibidem.

^{Coosnapen-Gentil M.} 29 Op. cit.

^{Golliau C.} 30 Op. cit.

^{Caroll J.} 31 Economy [Mauritius] // Africa South of the Sahara 1989. L., 1988, p. 706.

^{Tokareva Z. I.} 32 Specificities of the economic and political development of the Republic of Mauritius in the 90s / / Many Faces of Africa, Moscow, 2000, pp. 78-85 (Tokareva Z. I. 2000. Spetsifika ekonomicheskogo i politicheskogo razvitiya Respubliki Mavrikiy. M.) (in Russian)

^{Bugnath M.} 33 Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. Madam the President with a difference // News on Sunday. 5 - 11 June 2015, p. 6 - 7.

³⁴ Mauritius: The search for a perfect partner // The Africa Report. December 2011 - January 2012, p. 124.

³⁵ Ramgoolam: My only message is to vote against the Alliance Lepep // Weekly. 11 - 17 June 2015, p. 15.

^{Orderson C.} 36 The great clean-up // The Africa Report. June 2015, p. 46.

³⁷ Le Mauricien. 12 Juin 2015, p. 4 - 5.

³⁸ SAJ: "Paul Berenger continue de 'divaguer' et de croire que ce peuple 'est imbecile'" // Le Matinal (Mauritius). 12 Juin 2015, p. 5.

³⁹ Sentence - Independent Commission Against Corruption vs. P.K.Jugnauth.

^{Phillips R.} 40 Op. cit.

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