As expected, the Opposition Leader’s Private Notice Question before the parliamentary recess focused on electoral reform. For Pravind Jugnauth, the government is already working on electoral reform and a ministerial committee chaired by him is already working on it. The Prime Minister said that he was not against the counting of votes on polling day, but that it was not as simple for the legislative elections. “I’m not against it… but it will require a major logistical deployment”, he said. He recalled that it was his government that came up with the counting exercise on polling day itself. The first time was during the last village elections in 2020. Then there were the Rodrigues regional elections in February 2022.
The ministerial committee, chaired by Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, will also examine the issue of political party funding. The Prime Minister announced that several proposals will be studied by this committee, including the continuous registration of voters, the counting of votes on the same day as the poll, and the use of indelible ink. He also said that the committee’s recommendations would be submitted well in advance of the next general election. The legislation will be before Parliament before the next general election, Pravind Jugnauth said. The Prime Minister also rejected the suggestion to set up a Select Committee on the voter registration exercise.
Parliamentary business has been adjourned until 17 October. Our elected representatives will have almost 3 months of parliamentary recess.
