On 4 February, newly elected Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam revealed to parliament that he had halted a mass surveillance system, which he alleged had been set up and operated by the previous government. Concerns about state surveillance were raised in October 2024, following a series of leaked recordings of phone conversations involving politicians, journalists and diplomats, however Ramgoolam’s revelations brought the surveillance system to light and were based on the preliminary findings of an investigation carried out by the Mauritian police and international cybersecurity experts. According to these findings, the system used advanced interception technology capable of monitoring phone calls, internet traffic and social media communications across the country and had, allegedly, operated without judicial oversight. The Prime Minister said that surveillance had stopped since he took office in November 2024 and that the equipment had been deactivated.

Sources: Le Mauricien, L'Express, Mauritius Times, The Africa Report, International IDEA              

On 15 February, Mauritius’ Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) arrested former Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on money laundering charges, marking an escalation of Mauritian authorities’ investigations into alleged corruption under Jugnauth’s administration, which spanned from 2017 to 2024. His arrest, along with that of two prominent business people and a deputy mayor, came after the FCC said it had seized suitcases of cash and luxury watches from a number of locations, including the former Prime Minister’s home. In January, authorities arrested and charged the former Bank of Mauritius governor with conspiracy to commit fraud, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged illegal disbursements from an investment company owned by the Bank. This investigation is also reported to be looking into other high-profile individuals, including the former finance minister, Renganaden Padayachy.    

Sources: Mauritius Times, The Africa Report, Jeune Afrique, Barron's

Opposition coalition, the Alliance for Change (Alliance du Changement) won Mauritius’ legislative elections held on 10 November, securing 60 of the 62 (96.8 per cent) directly elected seats in the unicameral National Assembly. The Rodrigues People’s Organisation (Organisation du Peuple Rodriguais) won the remaining two seats, with the incumbent Alliance of the People (Alliance Lepep) coalition failing to secure an elected seat. Turnout was 79.3 per cent of registered voters (up from 77.0 per cent in 2019). Of the 891 candidates contesting the elections, 165 (18.5 per cent) were women, of whom 11 won seats. An additional woman was appointed to the Assembly by the country’s Electoral Commissioner as one of four unsuccessful candidates under the country’s Best Loser System, which allows for up to eight seats to be allocated to the highest-polling losing candidates from underrepresented ethnic groups. Women, therefore, hold 12 of the 66 (18.2 per cent) seats in parliament - down from 2019, when there were 14 female representatives in a then-larger Assembly of 72 seats (19.4 per cent). International observers assessed the elections to have been credible, transparent and peaceful, but criticised the under-representation of women among candidates.       

Sources: Office of the Electoral Commissioner (1), Office of the Electoral Commissioner (2), Le Mauricien, International IDEA, Defimedia, SADC Electoral Observation Mission, African Union Electoral Observation Mission   

On 1 November, the Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA), suspended access to all social media platforms, announcing that the suspension would remain in effect until 11 November, the day after the country’s legislative elections. Access to social media was in fact restored 24 hours later following public outcry, but the suspension was notable for being the country’s first. The ICTA justified the ban on national security grounds, stating that it was a necessary response to ‘illegal postings’, a reference to a series of leaked audio recordings of phone conversations involving, among others, senior politicians, diplomats, journalists, and police officers. The opposition accused the government of using the ban to limit the fallout from the leaks, which have come to be referred to as ‘the wiretapping scandal’.

Sources: Information and Communication Technology Authority, Access Now, Radio France Internationale, Human Rights Watch, Al Jazeera (1), Al Jazeera (2)

On 4 October, Mauritius’ Supreme Court delivered a judgement de-criminalising same-sex relations in the country. In its decision, the Court found that the colonial-era law prohibiting ‘sodomy’ breached a constitutional protection against discrimination and ruled that it should be interpreted to exclude consensual sexual intercourse between male adults. While the court noted that the law is ‘rarely, if ever’ enforced against gay men, it found that the threat of arrest, prosecution and conviction had a very significant impact on them, entrenching stigma and encouraging discrimination. The ruling was welcomed by the UN and rights organisations.

Sources: The Supreme Court of Mauritius, The Conversation, Human Dignity Trust, United Nations