One of the Government’s main objectives is to create a society in which each citizen has every prospect of a better quality of life.
The Assembly is made up of 70 Members, of whom 62 are directly elected in 21 constituencies. The island of Mauritius is divided
into 20 constituencies returning 3 members each and that of Rodrigues is a single constituency returning 2 members.
After a general election, the Electoral Supervisory Commission may nominate up to a maximum of 8 additional members in accordance with
section 5 of the First Schedule of the Constitution with a view to correct any imbalance in community representation in Parliament. This system of
nominating members is commonly called the best loser system.
The political party or party alliance which wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government and its leader usually becomes the Prime Minister.
It is the Prime Minister who selects the members of the composition of the Cabinet from elected members of the Assembly, except for the Attorney General
who may not be an elected member of the Assembly The political party or alliance which has the second largest majority forms the Official Opposition and
it's leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition. The Assembly elects a Speaker, a Deputy Speaker and a
Deputy Chairman of Committees as one of its first business.
Functions of the Assembly
The functions of the National Assembly include the making of laws, the controlling of the finances of the State and also a critical
role to check the actions of government and the Ministries.
National Assembly Chamber Seating Plan
Sitting Procedures
The Assembly usually sits on Tuesdays at 11.30 a.m. Announcements, if any, are made by the Speaker and Papers are laid on the Table.
The next 3 hours are allocated to Question Time, during which, only Questions of which notice has been given requiring an Oral Answer,
listed on the Order Paper are dealt with.
Orders Papers
Private Notice Questions
Parliament TV
