Mauritius swears in first non-Indian prime minister

PORT-LOUIS, Sept 30 (AFP) - Paul Berenger was sworn in Tuesday as prime minister of Mauritius, becoming the first non-Indian to lead the government in the tiny but prosperous Indian Ocean island state.

Berenger, 58, took over from Anerood Jugnauth, an ethnic Indian who has held the post of prime minister for most of the past 21 years, under a pact signed between the two men's parties three years ago.

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"This is a great day for democracy," said 73-year-old Jugnauth after handing power to Berenger.

"Paul Berenger has shown himself to be a hard worker and team leader. He will make a good prime minister," he said.

"He has been very active in political life these past 35 years. He deserves to lead the country towards greater progress and prosperity," he said.

The accession to the highest government post of Berenger, who is from the white, European minority, reflects the blurred ethnic boundaries in Mauritius, where more than half the population of 1.2 million is of Indian origin.

In the past several months before assuming the premiership, Berenger increasingly has had reassuring words for the Indian majority, who have historically held sway in political and economic life in the island state since independence.

His first official trip abroad is expected to be to India in November.

But observers say his main task will be to ensure that the harmony that has long existed between Hindu-Indians, Muslims and "the general population" -- the tag given to Mauritians of European and African extraction, and mixed race islanders called Creoles -- continues, so that the island nation can forge ahead with its economic development.

Under the guidance of Jugnauth, Mauritius has become a regional economic powerhouse, setting up a duty-free trade zone and establishing itself as a leader in textiles production.

In another formality, all government ministers resigned Tuesday and are expected to be sworn in again later in the day before taking up the same posts.

Only agriculture minister Pravind Jugnauth, Anerood's son, who took over the leadership of the MSM party in April from his father, will take on a new role in Berenger's government.

He will continue to hold the agriculture portfolio but will also serve as deputy prime minister and finance minister. Berenger held both posts under Anerood Jugnauth.

The transfer of power is in line with an agreement reached three years ago between the island nation's two main political parties -- the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), led by Berenger, and Jugnauth's Militant Socialist Movement (MSM).

Before general elections in September 2000, the parties of the two men, whose political destinies have been intertwined for more than 30 years, formed a coalition and won a crushing victory, garnering between them 57 of the 60 seats in parliament. The three remaining seats went to the Labour Party.

Under their coalition pact, the two parties agreed that Jugnauth would serve as prime minister for three years before handing over to Berenger, who would hold the premiership for two years leading up to elections in 2005.

Berenger has already said he wants to lead another coalition to contest those elections.

Jugnauth is due to take over the chiefly ceremonial post of president on October 7, replacing the incumbent Karl Offmann.

France colonised Mauritius in the early 18th century and brought African slaves to work on sugar plantations.

From 1810 until independence, the island was under British rule.

When slavery was abolished in 1835, the plantation owners hired Indian labourers who gradually became the largest demographic group.

Whereas the slaves had been forced to give up their culture and religion for Christianity, the Indian immigrants were able to preserve their beliefs and the numerous languages of the subcontinent.

As Indians and other groups joined forces against the powerful Franco-Mauritian elite and British settlers, the Labour Party was created in 1936.

This party went on to play a decisive role in delivering independence in 1968 in the face of scare-mongering by whites that independence would lead to a Hindu hegemony.

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