Mauritius: Media

Updated 2000

Mauritius possesses a vibrant media. Mainly published in French, the printed media seemed to be biased in favour of the opposition. The main newspapers, Le Mauricien and L'Express, were supportive of the opposition parties while the MBC, long accused of operating as the mouthpiece of the successive governments, was, this time again, accused of favouring the outgoing Prime Minister and his electoral alliance.

The opposition alliance and many independent analysts consistently blamed the MBC for its bias in favour for the ruling PTr/PMXD in its coverage of the news. However, many critics of the MBC acknowledged that the public broadcaster has been favouring the ruling parties or alliances throughout the history of the country. "Today the MBC is accused of being biased in favour of Dr Ramgoolam, yesterday it was blamed of supporting Sir Anerood Jugnauth, the current leader of the opposition alliance", said an analyst.

Qualifying the MBC as the "shame of the 2000 electoral campaign", the Business Magazine of 6-12 September 2000 strongly claimed that the subordination of the public broadcaster to the government of the day constitutes a real threat to democracy in the island. For the magazine, the introduction of checks and balances to reinforce the independence of the MBC should be a priority of the new government.

The MBC allocated free airtime on the state-owned TV and radio to the contesting political parties from 4 September 2000. This allocation was based on parties' representation in the last National Assembly and on the number of candidates filled.