Mauritius Government Collapses Over Plan to Break Ties to Britain

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius —  The coalition government of Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth collapsed Saturday, hours after he sacked three Cabinet ministers who tried to thwart his plans to break ties with the British Crown and transform Mauritius into a republic.

The three ministers--Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party Satcam Boolell, Finance Minister Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo and Minister of Social Security and Reform Institutions Dineshwar Ramjuttun--had criticized Jugnauth for his handling of a constitutional amendment in a bitter session of Parliament.

Jugnauth failed to secure the votes of a full three-quarters of Parliament members, the number required for an amendment to declare Mauritius a republic.

Mauritius, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean 500 miles east of Madagascar--gained independence from Britain in 1968, while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth. But Britain retained the Chagos archipelago for defensive purposes, including the island of Diego Garcia, where the United States has a naval base.

Hours after Jugnauth fired the three ministers, three other Labor ministers quit the coalition, leaving Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement as a minority government and prompting efforts by the prime minister to seek a new alliance to avert elections.

The government spokesman said a vote on the issue would be held again Tuesday, assuming Jugnauth assembles a majority government.