Mauritians went to vote 40 years ago today. Between two oil shocks. And before Claudette flattened our economy. It's the first elections I remember. Will have plenty to write on this. The Labour Party was busy building the country but it was very difficult times. They managed to stay in power with the help of the PMSD. And thanks to one electoral promise.
Showing posts with label 1976. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1976. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
1976 General Elections Turn 40 Today
Mauritians went to vote 40 years ago today. Between two oil shocks. And before Claudette flattened our economy. It's the first elections I remember. Will have plenty to write on this. The Labour Party was busy building the country but it was very difficult times. They managed to stay in power with the help of the PMSD. And thanks to one electoral promise.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
What Mauritian Voters Want on December 11
By and large, a Government with about 35 MPs and an Opposition with 25. They don't want a Government with a lot more seats because then it will start having funny ideas and do some really stupid things. Like messing up an excellent constitution. And they want policies that work for a majority of their fellow citizens not the kind of nonsense that we've seen since 2005.
It now appears that none of the two major political blocks -- thank God! -- will win three-quarters of the seats. Although Labour/MMM won all the seats in 1995 with 65% of the votes. In fact a little data analysis for that election -- which happened two decades ago -- will reveal that all we need for that alliance to shed 25 seats is a displacement of less than 16% of the voters. And about a 13% movement of voters should prevent them from grabbing 75% of the seats.
Shifts of these magnitudes have happened before. For example in 2005 LP/PMSD got 12.7 percentage points more votes than they had five years earlier. And the issues were not as important as they are now. For a hint of the kind of shift that may happen in a week we need to look at the change in the sum of the share of votes the IP and the PMSD received in 1967 and 1976. 44%.
It now appears that none of the two major political blocks -- thank God! -- will win three-quarters of the seats. Although Labour/MMM won all the seats in 1995 with 65% of the votes. In fact a little data analysis for that election -- which happened two decades ago -- will reveal that all we need for that alliance to shed 25 seats is a displacement of less than 16% of the voters. And about a 13% movement of voters should prevent them from grabbing 75% of the seats.
Shifts of these magnitudes have happened before. For example in 2005 LP/PMSD got 12.7 percentage points more votes than they had five years earlier. And the issues were not as important as they are now. For a hint of the kind of shift that may happen in a week we need to look at the change in the sum of the share of votes the IP and the PMSD received in 1967 and 1976. 44%.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Three Digits is Enough
That's essentially what Omega was told when it asked whether it should build a four-digit scoreboard for gymnastics for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Because 10.00 was simply not possible. And then Nadia began her routine on the uneven bars and everyone -- judges, spectators and competitors alike -- were awestruck by a dazzling performance that had no flaws. So that the first perfect score showed up as a confusing 1.00. She went on to win six more.
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