Pravind Jugnauth New 5th Prime Minister of Mauritius


Pravind Jugnauth, son of Indian-origin Anerood Jugnauth, took over as Mauritius Prime Minister on 23 January, 2016 after the 86-year-old former premier resigned in favour of his son.

Pravind Jugnauth, 55, is the leader of the main political party Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), and had already formed his ministerial cabinet after receiving an appointment letter from President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.




Pravind Jugnauth also holds the post of Finance Minister and his party has the majority of seats in the National Assembly since December 2014.

The younger Jugnauth has studied Law at University of Buckingham and later joined the Lincoln's Inn in central London and became a Barrister. He then joined Aix-Marseille University in France where he graduated with an LLM, according to the government of Mauritius portal.

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Pravind is married and has three daughters. His father, Anerood, had served as both the President and Prime Minister of Mauritius and held various ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Rodrigues, Defence, Home Affairs and National Development Unit.

His mother, Sarojini Ballah, is a primary school teacher by profession. She had actively participated in several political and social activities and was also the patron of various charitable organisations.

Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation, is a middle-income country of some 1.3 million people, with a per capita GDP of just over $9,000. People of Indian origin comprise around 68 percent of Mauritius's total population of over 1.3 million.

Most of them are descendants of Indian labourers who were brought in the 19th century and early 20th century to work in the sugarcane plantations.