1886 Mauritian general election

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General elections were held for the first time in Mauritius between 11 and 20 January 1886.[1] They followed the introduction of a new constitution the previous year. The and (also known as the Oligarchs) each won five of the ten elected seats.[1]

Electoral system[]

The new constitution provided for a 28-member , which consisted of the Governor, 12 officials, 5 appointed members and 10 elected members.[2] The ten elected members were returned from nine constituencies formed from the nine districts, which all districts returning one member except Port Louis, which returned two.[3] Voting took place in each constituency on a different day, starting in Port Louis on 11 January and ending in Grand Port on 20 January.[1]

The franchise for the elections was severely limited; the right to vote was restricted to male British subjects aged 21 and over and who possessed Rs300 of immovable property or movable property worth Rs3,000, a monthly salary of Rs50, those paying rent of Rs25 a month or paying a licence duty of at Rs200 a year. People married to eligible voters, or the oldest son of a qualifying widow were also entitled to vote.[3] As a result, although the population of Mauritius was 359,688, only 4,061 people were eligible to vote,[1] of which just 253 were Asian.[4]

Campaign[]

A total of 25 candidates contested the elections; led by William Newton,[1] the Reformists nominated ran candidates in all ten constituencies. The Democrats put forward nine, with their leader running in two constituencies. The remaining six candidates were independents, one of whom (Arthur Pitot) also ran in two candidates.[1]

Despite the limited franchise, election notices were published in English, French, Hindustani (written in Arabic script), Tamil and Chinese.[5]

Results[]

PartyVotes%Seats
2,70949.215
2,13638.805
Independents66011.990
Total5,505100.0010
Registered voters/turnout4,061–
Source: Le Mauricien

By constituency[]

Constituency Candidate Party Votes %
Flacq
(222 registered)		 125 59.5
Yves Pierre Jollivet 85 40.5
Grand Port
(273 registered)		 109 50.5
Edgar Gallet 62 28.7
Fabien Rault Independent 45 20.8
Moka
(187 registered)		 137 81.5
Onésipho Beaugeard 31 18.5
Pamplemousses
(270 registered)		 156 51.8
W A Edwards 96 31.9
De Evenor Chazal Independent 45 15.0
Louis Vigoureux Independent 4 1.3
Plaines Wilhems
(653 registered)		 407 67.3
Povah Ambrose 194 32.1
Arthur Pitot Independent 4 0.7
Port Louis
(1,986 registered)		 941 26.4
Gustave de Coriolis 879 24.7
William Newton 705 19.8
John Alexander Ferguson Independent 523 14.7
Georges Guibert 511 14.4
Rivière du Rempart
(163 registered)		 61 39.6
Louis Rouillard 55 35.7
P L Chastellier Independent 38 24.7
Rivière Noire
(115 registered)		 55 51.4
Thorny Pitot 51 47.7
Arthur Pitot Independent 1 0.9
Savanne
(192 registered)		 Virgile Naz 149 80.5
Anderson James Forrester 36 19.5

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f HISTOIRE: Les premières élections générales opposent Oligarques et Démocrates Le Mauricien, 26 December 2011
  2. ^ Sydney Selvon (2012) A New Comprehensive History of Mauritius: From British Mauritius to the 21st century
  3. ^ a b Constitutional Evolution of Mauritius from British rule to Independence Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine Government of Mauritius
  4. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1394
  5. ^ Kenneth Ballhatchet (1995) "The structure of British official attitudes: Colonial Mauritius 1883−1968" The Historical Journal, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp989−1011
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