Paul Bérenger

The Right Honourable Paul Raymond Bérenger GCSK
4th Prime Minister of Mauritius
In office 30 September 2003 – 5 July 2005
President	Anerood Jugnauth
Deputy	Pravind Jugnauth
Preceded by	Anerood Jugnauth
Succeeded by	Navin Ramgoolam
5th Leader of the Opposition
In office 17 December 2014 – 20 December 2016
President	Kailash Purryag Ameenah Gurib
Prime Minister	Anerood Jugnauth
Preceded by	Pravind Jugnauth
Succeeded by	Xavier-Luc Duval
In office 1 October 2013 – 15 September 2014
President	Kailash Purryag
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Alan Ganoo
Succeeded by	Pravind Jugnauth
In office 27 September 2007 – 23 January 2013
President	Anerood Jugnauth Kailash Purryag
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Nando Bodha
Succeeded by	Alan Ganoo
In office 5 July 2005 – 5 July 2006
President	Anerood Jugnauth
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Navin Ramgoolam
Succeeded by	Nando Bodha
In office 5 July 1997 – 11 September 2000
President	Cassam Uteem
Prime Minister	Anerood Jugnauth
Preceded by	Navin Ramgoolam
Succeeded by	Von Mally
In office 21 August 1983 – 30 August 1987
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Veerasamy Ringadoo
Prime Minister	Anerood Jugnauth
Preceded by	Gaetan Duval
Succeeded by	Prem Nababsingh
6th Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius
In office 20 December 1995 – 10 July 1997
President	Cassam Uteem Karl Offmann
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam Anerood Jugnauth
In office 20 September 2000 – 30 September 2003
Preceded by	Kailash Purryag
Succeeded by	Pravind Jugnauth
Leader of the MMM
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 October 2013
Preceded by	Alan Ganoo
Member of Parliament for Rose Hill & Stanley
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 September 1991
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-26) 26 March 1945 (age 76) Curepipe, British Mauritius
Political party	Mauritian Militant Movement
Residence	River Walk Community, Vacoas-Phoenix (Personal)
Alma mater	Bangor University

Paul Raymond Bérenger GCSK, MP (born 26 March 1945) is a Mauritian politician who was Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2003 to 2005. He has been Leader of the Opposition on several occasions – from 1983 to 1987, 1997 to 2000, 2005 to 2006, 2007 to 2013, October 2013 to 15 September 2014, and again from December 2014 to December 2016 where he was replaced by Xavier-Luc Duval. Following his party's defeat in the 2014 general elections, he became Leader of the Opposition for the sixth time, making him the longest ever to serve in this constitutional position.^[1] He was also Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2003, and he was a cabinet minister in the government of Anerood Jugnauth in 1982 and 1991. Bérenger, a Christian of Franco-Mauritian descent, has been the only non-Hindu Prime Minister of Mauritius, or, more particularly, the only Prime Minister who has not belonged to the Jugnauth or Ramgoolam families.

Early life, education & family[]

Bérenger was born to Mauritian parents whose ancestors arrived in Mauritius from France in the 1700s. Geneviève Bérenger, his mother, was the daughter of Auguste Esnouf, an engineer and author who used pen name Savinien Mérédac to write novels and newspaper articles.^[2] He completed his secondary schooling at the college du St Esprit in Quatre Bornes. He travelled to the UK to study French, attended the Sorbonne in Paris and graduated from the Bangor University with a BA Hons in philosophy and French.^[3] He later worked as a Trade Unionist from 1970 to 1982 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time in December 1976.^[4][5]

Political career[]

Bérenger founded the Mauritian Militant Movement in 1969 along with Dev Virahsawmy and the Jeerooburkhan brothers. This party has always received more than 40% of direct votes in general elections.

1976 General Elections[]

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.^[6] 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.

1982 General Elections[]

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 and Devanand Routho secured the remaining seats in that constituency.^[7] 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.

1983 General Elections[]

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.^[8]

1987 General Elections[]

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.^[9]

1991 General Elections[]

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.^[10]

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

1995 By Elections[]

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.^[11]

1995 General Elections[]

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.^[12] 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.

2000 Elections[]

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.^[13][14] 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.^[15]

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

Prime Minister[]

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.

Leader of the Opposition[]

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, .^[16][17] 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 (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. Several petitions were lodged in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the election results.^[18]

Awards and decorations[]

•  Mauritius:
  • Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (2003)

References[]