Extra-Constitutional Parliamentary Private Secretaries in Mauritius

Abstract

In a recent analysis of the constitutional position of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (P.P.S.s) in the United Kingdom Professor Norton concludes that they “occupy an important twilight zone between ministers and backbenchers. Though remaining among the latter, they assume certain characteristics of the former.” Mauritius, which like many Commonwealth countries has a constitutional regime largely inspired by the British model, has recently created an innovative role for P.P.S.s who operate at sub-ministerial level but are not unpaid helpers to ministers as in the U.K. It is the intention of this article to critically examine this role.The Mauritian Constitution originally provided for a Cabinet consisting of the Prime Minister and up to 14 ministers who were all members of the Legislative Assembly, except for the Attorney-General. Under section 66 of the Constitution, the Governor General acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister could appoint up to five Parliamentary Secretaries from among members of the Assembly “to assist Ministers in the performance of their duties”. Following the formation of a coalition government in 1969, the Constitution was amended so as to increase the number of Ministers to 20 and that of Parliamentary Secretaries to ten with Mauritius having a unicameral legislative assembly of 62 elected members and up to eight nominated members, the 1969 amendments enabled almost every other elected member to be appointed a Cabinet minister or Parliamentary Secretary.