The
Rodrigues Regional Assembly is the Regional Parliament of the Island of
Rodrigues which forms part of the Republic of Mauritius. The Regional Assembly
was established following the passing at the National Assembly of Mauritius of
the Rodrigues Regional Assembly Act
2001(RRA Act 2001) which granted the island autonomy. The RRA Act 2001
(Section 3(2)) sets the Regional Assembly as a body corporate exercising its
function on behalf of the government of Mauritius.
The Rodrigues
Regional Assembly is a Parliament established to allow the population of
Rodrigues Island the possibility to have more say in the decision making
process for the development of the Island. Prior to the advent of the autonomy
of Rodrigues, the local population fought for the recognition by the Government
of Mauritius of the specificities of the island which were often not catered
for by Central Government policies. In addition, the administration of
Rodrigues was much fettered as many a file was on the to and fro in between
Port Louis and Port Mathurin. This, for instance, caused simply administrative
procedures to be unduly long as compared to similar situations in mainland
Mauritius.
Hence, the RRA Act 2001 came to allow any Mauritian
citizen, whether Rodriguan born or not, having resided on the Island of
Rodrigues for a minimum of two years prior to the date of a regional poll to be
eligible to be a Member of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly. A Member sits in
the Regional House of Parliament, whether on Government or Opposition side, to
see to it that the best interests of the Rodriguan population are protected.
Moreover, in addition to drastically reducing the length of administrative
procedures, the RRA Act 2001 and Constitution of Mauritius both grant to the
Regional Assembly the power to make policy decisions, through its Executive
Council (equating the role of Government Cabinet) in the areas
of responsibility that have been vested into it by law and which are thereby
brought from time to time to the House of Parliament to be debated by the
elected representatives of the local population. The House has the power to
pass new laws and regulations which only affect Rodrigues and which are devised
to better cater for the specificities of the island.