European Parliament figures have been President of the Parliament and its predecessors. The first President was Paul-Henri Spaak MEP, one of the founding fathers of the Union. Other founding fathers include Alcide de Gasperi MEP and Robert Schuman MEP. The two female Presidents were Simone Veil MEP in 1979 (first President of the elected Parliament) and Nicole Fontaine MEP in 1999, both Frenchwomen. The previous president, Jerzy Buzek was the first East-Central European to lead an EU institution, a former Prime Minister of Poland who rose out of the Solidarity movement in Poland that helped overthrow communism in the Eastern Bloc. During
Prime Minister of Mauritius appointment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Prime Minister has the constitutional duty to advise him/her when to exercise these prerogatives. During the British Mauritius period, it was the Chief Minister who was the head of government, executive powers was vested by the Governor, representative of the Monarch. The only Chief Minister which the country had known was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, from 26 September 1961 to 12 March 1968. The office of the Prime Minister of Mauritius was created on 12 March 1968 when Mauritius became an independent state. Queen Elizabeth II remained as head of state as Queen