Pravind Jugnauth


Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is a Mauritian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Mauritius. In addition he has been the leader of political party Militant Socialist Movement since April 2003. He has held a number of ministerial portfolios and has also been Leader of the Opposition.

Early life and education

Born on 25 December 1961 in La Caverne, a suburb area in Vacoas-Phoenix, Mauritius, Jugnauth was born to into a Hindu family of the Ahir caste. He was born to Anerood Jugnauth, who was then a barrister and Sarojini Ballah, a school teacher. He has an elder sister, Shalini Jugnauth-Malhotra.
After primary schooling at Aryan Vedic, he studied at Royal College Curepipe. He then went on to study Law at University of Buckingham, thus joining the Lincoln's Inn and became a Barrister. He then joined Aix-Marseille University in France where he graduated with a "diplome en droit civil".

Family life

Pravind Jugnauth married Kobita Ramdanee in 1992 and is the father of three daughters: Sonika, Sonali and Sara.

Start of political career

Pravind Jugnauth officially joined the MSM in 1990.

2000 to 2005

As Minister of Agriculture from 7 September 2000 to 7 October 2003, Jugnauth reformed the sugar sector by diversification with production of ethanol, agricultural rhum, special sugars, electricity generation from bagasse and other high value added products. Besides production costs were significantly reduced in response to a drop in the protected sugar price under the Sugar Protocol with the European Union. He also negotiated a package for workers under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme which enabled around 8000 workers to retire with cash compensation exceeding 2.5 billion rupees and around 825 arpents of land worth 3 billion rupees.
Jugnauth also encouraged hydroponics and other modern methods of agricultural production as well as agricultural biotechnology research. He created a National Agricultural Biotechnology Institute and Food Technology Laboratory in Mauritius and later launched the Small Planters Welfare Fund. The fund caters to the welfare of planters and their families and provides crop insurance schemes designed to financially support planters whose crops are affected by unfavorable weather conditions.
As Finance Minister from 7 October 2003 to 5 July 2005, Jugnauth reduced taxes on thousands of commodities. He increased subsidies on basic commodities and gave salary compensations well above inflation rates in two successive years. He launched a project to make Mauritius a Duty Free Island.

2005 to 2009

In June 2005 Prime Minister Paul Berenger dissolved the Parliament in preparation for the 2005 General Elections. The Labour-led Alliance Sociale won a total seat of 38 against the MSM-MMM alliance which obtained only 24 seats. Pravind Jugnauth was defeated in his constituency, received 48% of vote and was not elected.
Paul Berenger became Leader of the Opposition made up of MSM and MMM.
In 2006 MP Ashok Jugnauth left the MSM party and formed a new party following a dispute with Pravind Jugnauth regarding leadership of the party. At that time Pravind was not an elected member of Parliament but still held leadership of the MSM. Nando Bodha the general secretary of the MSM became Leader of the Opposition after the MSM-MMM alliance split up due to Pravind Jugnauth's disapproval of Paul Berenger's request to make Rajesh Bhagwan the Opposition Chief Whip. In 2007 two members of MSM left the MSM and swore allegiance to Berenger who became Leader of the Opposition.

2009 By-Elections

had been elected as MSM member of parliament in Constituency No.8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. But he had to resign in November 2008 as the British Privy Council upheld the guilty verdict that the Supreme Court of Mauritius had issued in 2007 following charges of electoral bribery during the campaign leading to the 2015 General Elections. Thus by-elections had to be held in 2009. Ashok Jugnauth stood as a candidate with the support of MMM. The Labour Party supported Pravind Jugnauth who then announced his candidacy in the 8th constituency. On 2 March 2009, Pravind Jugnauth won the by-elections. His victory paved the way for the next alliance during the 2010 general elections.

2010-2014

In 2010, his party MSM formed a coalition known as Alliance de L'Avenir or Ptr-MSM-PMSD by joining forces with the Mauritian Labour Party and Mauritian Social Democrat Party. The coalition won the May 2010 elections. President Sir Anerood Jugnauth on the advice of Navin Ramgoolam then appointed him as Vice Prime Minister & Minister of Finance taking office as from 11 May 2010. On 26 July 2011 Pravind Jugnauth resigned from his office of minister as well as all other MSM Ministers due to the scandal known as MedPoint Affair.
In 2014, following the resignation of Paul Berenger as Leader of the Opposition, President Kailash Purryag appointed Pravind Jugnauth to hold the constitutional office. Thus Pravind Jugnauth served as Leader of the Opposition from September 2014 to December 2014.

2014-2017

He was appointed as Minister of Information Technology following the Alliance Lepep's victory.
On 21 January 2017 Aneerood Jugnauth announced that he will be resigning as Prime Minister due to poor health and that he will be succeeded by his son Pravind Jugnauth.

2017-2019

On 23 January 2017 he was chosen by his party MSM to lead the National Assembly. This triggered the ruling coalition partner Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate to leave the government and join the Opposition. Pravind Jugnauth served as Prime Minister of Mauritius during the second half of the Alliance Lepep's mandate which concluded with general elections in November 2019.

2019-present

Following the victory of the Alliance Morisien at the 2019 General Elections Pravind Jugnauth was elected as Prime Minister for a five-year mandate.

Recognition and Awards

Pravind Jugnauth was honored Doctor from the University of Buckingham with an Honoris Causa in 2005. In 2017 he has awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President of India.

Controversies

In 2010, the PTR-MSM-PMSD government acknowledged the need to create a specialized centre for geriatric care. Thus the cabinet of Ministers approved the purchase of the existing MedPoint Private Clinic which was owned by Dr Krishnan Malhotra and Mrs Shalini Devi Jugnauth-Malhotra. The latter is the sister of then Minister of Finance Pravind Jugnauth and daughter of then President Sir Anerood Jugnauth. The objective was to convert the hospital into a specialised centre.
On 22 July 2011 following an investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, then Minister of Health Maya Hanoomanjee was arrested by the ICAC Police and the government chief valuer was suspended from his duties. Pravind Jugnauth was also arrested on charges of "conflict of interest". This became known as the MedPoint Affair. On 30 June 2015 Jugnauth was found guilty under Article 13 of the Prevention Of Corruption Act 2002. He was sentenced by the Intermediate court of Mauritius for 1 year of imprisonment. However, he appealed to the Supreme Court of Mauritius and won his appeal. The prosecution appealed to the Privy Council, but the prosecution appeal was unsuccessful.