c/o Mother Courage Centre, Bois Cheri Rd, Moka, Republic of Mauritius.

Tel +230-4336431. Email: rezistans@freeitmauritius.org. Website www.reziste.mu Facebook.com/reziste

Urgent Attention
The President of the Republic of Mauritius
Her Excellency,
Mrs. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, (GCSK, CSK, PhD, DSc)
State House, Le Reduit
This 23rd day of January 2017
In re: Proposed Resignation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius
Dear Madame President,
1.

We, the undersigned, representatives of Rezistans ek Alternativ are hereby writing to

you in relation to the above subject matter.

2.

Madame President, we are been apprised via the media, through an official Address
to the Nation, that Sir Anerood Jugnauth, the current Prime Minister of the Republic
of Mauritius has expressed his intention to resign from his current post of Prime
Minister by thereafter remaining as a member of the National Assembly. Madame
President, we humbly seek to express to you that such a course of action will be
unconstitutional on the part of the current Prime Minister.
We are writing this urgent communication to explain the reasons of the serious
constitutional breach that might be perpetrated.

3.

Madame President, as you may already be aware, section 112(1) and section 117 of
the Constitution of Mauritius reads as follows:
Section 112(1) of the Constitution
(1) In this Constitution, "public office" (a) shall be construed as including the offices of judges of the Supreme Court, the offices of
members of all other courts of law in Mauritius (other. Than courts martial), the offices of
members of the Police Force and the offices of the President's personal staff; and
(b) shall not be construed as including (i) the office of member of the Assembly, or the Rodrigues Regional Assembly
or its Chairperson;
(ii) any office, appointment to which is restricted, to members of the Assembly; or the
Rodrigues Regional Assembly;
(iii) the office of member of any Commission or tribunal established by this
Constitution.

Section 117(1) of the Constitution

Any person who has been appointed, to any office established by this Constitution may resign
from that office by writing under his hand addressed to the person or authority by whom he
was appointed, and the resignation shall take effect, and the office shall accordingly become
vacant

4.

Madame President, the Prime Minister has been appointed on the basis that he is a
member of the Assembly who appeared to the President of the Republic of Mauritius
to best able to command the support of the majority of the members of the Assembly.
Hence, your Excellency his post is derived first and foremost from his holding the
office of member of the Assembly prior to being appointed as the Prime Minister.

5.

Section 112 of the Constitution (supra) provides that public office is not be construed
as including the office of member of the Assembly. As result, the current Prime
Minister cannot resign under section 117 of the Constitution as section 117 deals with
holders of offices under section 112 of the Constitution which does not include the
office of a member of the Assembly.

6.

Madame President, in fact the Constitution has made express provisions as to how a
member of the Assembly can resign and how the post of Prime Minister becomes
vacant. We humbly draw Madame Presidents attention to sections 35(2) and 60(3) of
the Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius which reads:
Section 35(2) of the Constitution
(2) A member of the Assembly may resign his seat by writing under his hand addressed to the
Speaker and the seat shall become vacant when the writing is received by the Speaker or, if the
office of Speaker is vacant or the Speaker is for any reason unable to perform the functions of
his office, by the' Deputy Speaker or such other person as may be specified in the rules and
orders of the Assembly.
Section 60(3) of the Constitution
(3) The office of Prime Minister or any other Minister shall become vacant(a) where he ceases to be a member of the Assembly otherwise than by reason of a
dissolution of Parliament; or
(b) where, at the first sitting of the Assembly after any general election, he is not a member of
the Assembly:

8.

Section 60 (4) which specified the conditions under which office of ministers become
vacant specifically exclude the Prime Minister while Section 60 (5)sww further
specified the conditions in which conditions the Prime Minister shall not perform
any of his functions as Prime Minister. They read as follows:
Section 60 (4)
(4) The office of a Minister (other the Prime Minister) shall become vacant
(a) where the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
so directs ;

(b) where the Prime Minister resigns from office within 3 days after the passage by
the Assembly of a resolution of no confidence in the Government or is removed from
office under subsection (1) or (2) ; or
(c) upon the appointment of any person to the office of Prime Minister.
Section 60 (5)
Where for any period the prime Minister or any other Minister is unable by reason of section
36(1) to perform his functions as a member of the Assembly, he shall not during that period
perform any of his functions as Prime Minister or Minister, as the case may be.

9.

We also wish to draw your attention to section 60 (1) (2) which specifies condition,
which is not the current situation, in which you may remove the Prime Minister from
office.
60.

Tenure of office of Ministers

(1)
Where a resolution of no confidence in the government is passed by the Assembly and
the Prime Minister does not within 3 days resign from his office, the President shall remove
the Prime Minister from office unless, in pursuance of section 57(1), Parliament has been or is
to be dissolved in consequence of such resolution.
(2)
Where at any time between the holding of a general election and the first sitting of
the Assembly thereafter the President, acting in his own deliberate judgment, considers that,
inconsequence of changes in the membership of the Assembly resulting from that general
election, the Prime Minister will not be able to command the support of a majority of the
members of the Assembly, the President may remove the Prime Minister from office:
Provided that the President shall not remove the Prime Minister from office within the period
of 10 days immediately following the date prescribed for polling at that general election unless
he is satisfied that a party or party alliance in opposition to the Government and registered for
the purposes of that general election under paragraph 2 of the First Schedule has at that
general election gained a majority of all seats in the Assembly.

10.

Madame President, our humble understanding of the above is that as matters

currently stand in Mauritius as at date, the post of the Prime Minister in the Republic
of Mauritius cannot become vacant until and unless the current Prime Minister
ceases to be member of the Assembly by duly writing a letter of resignation
addressed to the Speaker of the National Assembly.

11.

In line of the constitutional reasoning found in point 10, and as matters currently
stand as at date, we are of the strong view that the exercising the power conferred
upon you under section 59 (1) and 59 (3) is subject to the post of the Prime Minister
becoming vacant by virtue Section 63 (a) of the Constitution.
59.

Ministers
(1)
There shall be a Prime Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister who shall be appointed
by the President.
(3)
The President, acting in his own deliberate judgment shall appoint as Prime
Minister the member of the Assembly who appears to him best able to command the support of
the majority of the members of the Assembly, and shall, acting in accordance with the advice

of the Prime Minister, appoint the Deputy Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and the
other Ministers from among the members of the Assembly.

12.

Madame President, it needs no mention that as Head of State and Commander-inChief of the Republic of Mauritius, you will no doubt be aware that it is your duty to
uphold and defend the Constitution and ensure that the institutions of democracy
and the rule of law are protected, the fundamental rights of all are respected,
maintained and strengthened.

13.

In light of the above, we urge you to use your prerogative as the guardian of the
Constitution to refuse to declare the post of Prime Minister as being vacant and
consequently not to use the power conferred to you under the Constitution under
53(3), until and unless the current Prime Minister ceases to be member of the
Assembly by duly writing a letter of resignation addressed to the Speaker of the
National Assembly.

14.

We also wish to draw to your attention trough the present letter that any act which is
not in accordance with provision of the Constitution in respect of the resignation of a
Prime Minister or of an appointment of a new Prime Minister, will not only be
subject to citizens peaceful protests, but can be legally challenged by citizens of
Mauritius, including members of Rezistans ek Alternativ.

15.

Thanking you, Madame President, for considering the critical issues raised by
Rezistans ek Alternativ.

Yours sincerely,

Ashok Subron & Jean Yves Chavrimootoo

for Rezistans ek Alternativ