Term limits as a means to consolidate liberal democracy in Mauritius

Abstract

The waves of democratisation in Africa gave hope to the continent. Democracy was becoming a reality and legal instruments were being put in place at the domestic level through constitutional clauses which were imposed to strengthen a democratic culture. However, regional trends in Africa proved that even constitutional clauses were not enough to regulate democracy. Presidents from African countries were still as autocratic as they previously were. Linked to its history and poor governance, political dynasty was entrenched in the political system in many African countries. Currently, many African countries still experience one-party rule in the form of political dynasty. Mauritius, though considered as a model of democracy, is a good example to show how political dynasty has undermined its democratic values. A way of consolidating its democracy can be to impose term limits on the Prime Minister's mandates, which are currently unlimited. This study analyses the effectiveness of imposing term limits in the Mauritian political system to control political dynasties to some extent. It however acknowledges that term limits alone cannot be an effective solution. It therefore proposes other recommendations such as having a youth quota, involving the civil society organisations and reviewing electoral procedures, which can help to consolidate democracy in Mauritius.