Paul Berenger

Bérenger was born to Mauritian parents whose ancestors arrived in Mauritius from France in the 1700s.

Geneviève Bérenger, his mother, was the daughter of Auguste Esnouf, an engineer and author who used pen name Savinien Mérédac to write novels and newspaper articles.

He completed his secondary schooling at the college du St Esprit in Quatre Bornes.

He travelled to the UK to study Philosophy and French, attended the Sorbonne in Paris and graduated from the Bangor University with a BA Hons in philosophy and French.

Paul Raymond Bérenger (born 26 March 1945) is a Mauritian politician who was Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2003 to 2005.

Bérenger founded the Mauritian Militant Movement in 1969 along with Dev Virahsawmy and the Jeerooburkhan brothers.

This party has always received more than 40% of direct votes in general elections.

He later worked as a Trade Unionist from 1970 to 1982 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time in December 1976.

Paul Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) at the December 1976 elections.

The remaining 2 seats were secured by Independence Party (Labour-CAM) candidates James Burty David and Heeralall Bhugaloo.

The general elections of 1976 turned out to be a three-way contest between the Independence Party (Labour-CAM coalition), the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate (PMSD), and the MMM.

There was a hung parliament, with 34 of the 70 seats in the National Assembly going to the MMM, 28 seats to the Labour Party, and 8 seats to the PMSD.

Ramgoolam remained in office, however, by forging a coalition with the PMSD for a bare majority.

Anerood Jugnauth was appointed Leader of the Opposition.

At the June 1982 general elections Paul Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) at the top of the list as a candidate of the MMM-PSM coalition.

His running mates Kailash Ruhee and Devanand Routho secured the remaining seats in that constituency.

The MMM won all 60 directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly (except for two seats allocated to Rodrigues Island).

Anerood Jugnauth became Prime Minister, Harish Boodhoo was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister.

Bérenger became the Minister of Finance.

In early 1983, Bérenger proposed a constitutional amendment removing the executive powers of the Prime Minister and entrusting them to the Cabinet collectively.

In this he was supported by Harish Boodhoo, but Jugnauth strongly objected.

Bérenger then sought a parliamentary motion of no confidence to have Jugnauth replaced as Prime Minister by Prem Nababsing.

Before the Legislative Assembly could vote on the matter, however, Jugnauth dissolved Parliament without any notice and called for new elections in August 1983.

At the August 1983 general elections Paul Bérenger stood as candidate of the MMM in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes).

But this time he was not elected whilst his rivals Michael Glover, Anil Gayan and Raj Virahsawmy of the MSM-Labour coalition were elected in that constituency.

Bérenger was once again candidate of the MMM in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) but he was not elected.

His rivals of the MSM-Labour coalition (Michael Glover, Balkrishn Gokulsing and Raj Virahsawmy) were elected to the Legislative Assembly.

At the August 1991 general elections Bérenger was elected to the Legislative Assembly under the MSM-MMM coalition in Constituency No. 19 (Stanley and Rose Hill) behind his running mates Jayen Cuttaree and Jean Claude de L'Estrac.

On 18 August 1993, Jugnauth dismissed Bérenger and all Members of the MMM from the government and formed a new majority with the other parties.

He was also Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2003, and he was a cabinet minister in the government of Anerood Jugnauth in 1982 and 1991.

Bérenger, a Christian of Franco-Mauritian descent, has been the only non-Hindu Prime Minister of Mauritius, or, more particularly, the only Prime Minister who has not belonged to the Jugnauth or Ramgoolam families.

In January 1995 Bérenger and Jean Claude de L'Estrac resigned from parliament, triggering by-elections in Constituency No.19.

Bérenger was elected under the banner of the Labour-MMM coalition.

As a candidate of the Labour-MMM coalition Bérenger was elected in Constituency No. 19 (Stanley and Rose Hill) at the December 1995 elections, ahead of his running mates Siddick Chady and Jayen Cuttaree.

This alliance won the 1995 elections with a 60-nil sweep of mainland Mauritian constituencies.

Ramgoolam became Prime Minister with Bérenger as his Deputy.

On 20 June 1997, however, Ramgoolam dismissed Bérenger and formed a new government without the MMM.

In 1999, the national opinion polls showed that Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam's Labour Party was the favorite to win the elections due in 2000.

He has been Leader of the Opposition on several occasions – from 1983 to 1987, 1997 to 2000, 2005 to 2006, 2007 to 2013, October 2013 to 15 September 2014, and again from December 2014 to December 2016 when he was replaced by Xavier-Luc Duval.

Following his party's defeat in the 2014 general elections, he became Leader of the Opposition for the sixth time, making him the longest ever to serve in this constitutional position.