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Who is Pravind Jugnauth?
Pravind Jugnauth is the Prime Minister of Mauritius. In a political career spanning over 30 years, Jugnauth has held many ministerial portfolios and has been a part of the Militant Socialist Movement Party since the 1990s and has been the leader of the MSM party since April 2003.
During his tenure in the agriculture ministry from 2000 to 2003, he reformed the sugar sector, while also encouraging hydroponics and other methods of agricultural production. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth then headed the finance ministry, wherein he reduced the taxes on multiple commodities, increased subsidy rates on basic commodities and products and even offered salary compensation for two successive years.
In 2014, Jugnauth was invited by then-President Kailash Purryag to be the leader of the Opposition following the resignation of Paul Berenger. He has also served as the Leader of the Opposition for a period of three months, following which, he took charge as the Minister of Information Technology. In 2017, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth was elected by his party (MSM) to lead the National Assembly. The announcement led to the leaving of ruling coalition partner Parti Mauricien Social Democrate, and Jugnauth was made the prime minister for the second half of the Alliance Lepep's mandate, which came to an end in 2019 with the General Elections.
Ever since Pravind Kumar Jugnauth came to power in 2019, he has made constant efforts to protect the sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago, which is a dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. A decision was announced by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the favour of the Mauritian government and Jugnauth called out the United Kingdom and the United States for their hypocrisy.
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is of Indian origin.