Mauritius in 2005

2,040 sq km (788 sq mi)
(2005 est.): 1,245,000
Port Louis
President Sir Anerood Jugnauth
Prime Ministers Paul Bérenger and, from July 5, Navin Ramgoolam

In the wake of the massive Indian Ocean tsunami that occurred on Dec. 26, 2004, Mauritius hosted a meeting in early January 2005 of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a group of 51 small island countries and territories, to address plans for an early-warning system and other economic and social needs. The economies had been worsening in many of the SIDS member countries and territories, including Mauritius, owing to environmental threats, trade barriers, and political instability.

In April, Prime Minister Paul Bérenger dissolved the parliament and announced new elections for July. The move signaled that pressure had been mounting on Bérenger to address the woes of the once-strong Mauritian economy after massive job cuts in the island’s two main industries, textiles and sugar production. Despite efforts to diversify the economy by attempting to make Mauritius a high-tech hub, the economy was hit hard when preferential trade deals on sugar exports and textiles were scrapped in January by the European Union and the U.S. The parliamentary elections held on July 3 resulted in the opposition party Social Alliance’s sweeping 38 of 62 seats. Navin Ramgoolam, the son of Mauritius’s first postindependence leader, became prime minister.