After 57 Years in Charge: Paul Bérenger Leaves the MMM

After 50 years of activism, Paul Bérenger leaves the MMM to join the opposition. This historic split from his own party marks a dramatic turning point in the career of the 81-year-old leader.

At 81, Paul Bérenger is undoubtedly experiencing the most brutal and unexpected crisis of a political career that began over half a century ago. One of the founders of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), he officially resigned from his position as leader and from the party on Monday at noon, having stepped down as Deputy Prime Minister on March 20. This divorce marks a spectacular turning point in the history of the MMM and leaves the party deeply divided.

Born on March 26, 1945, in Curepipe, Paul Bérenger completed his secondary education at the College of Saint-Esprit in Quatre-Bornes. He then pursued higher studies in philosophy and French at Bangor University in Wales.

Returning to Mauritius in 1969, he fully engaged in trade unionism. As a negotiator for several unions – he was even instrumental in the creation of the General Workers’ Federation (GWF) – he participated in the major strikes of 1971, including the transport workers' strike and the general strike in December. His activist activities led to his arrest and imprisonment for a year in 1972.

Simultaneously, in 1969, he became involved with the Club of Militant Students, formed in 1968 by a group of young people, some of whom were from the Royal College of Curepipe, including Amédée Darga, Sushil Kushiram, and Robin Panchoo, later joined by Venoo Moothien and Krithiti Goburdhun, among others. They invited young university students – Paul Bérenger, Dev Virahsawmy, and Jooneed Jeerooburkhan – to lead discussions. They later joined with others to create the MMM.

Already the party’s Secretary General when the MMM participated in the by-election on September 5, 1970, he initiated a democratic socialist movement, fiercely anti-communalist and in favor of bold structural reforms, including the nationalization of the sugar industry.

Elected as a deputy for the first time in December 1976 in constituency No. 18 (Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes), Paul Bérenger saw the MMM win 34 out of 70 seats, placing Parliament in a deadlock. In 1982, the MMM-PSM alliance won all 60 directly elected seats; he became Minister of Finance in the government of Sir Anerood Jugnauth, prior to the split in 1983 that saw SAJ create the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM).

From 1983 to 1987, designated as the "Best Loser," he was the leader of the opposition. Defeated in 1987, he did not hold a seat in Parliament, and Prem Nababsing then assumed this role for the MMM. Paul Bérenger would regain this position in 1997.

His career was marked by successive alliances: Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1993, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Navin Ramgoolam from 1995 to 1997. In 2000, the MSM-MMM alliance triumphed; he became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance again. On September 30, 2003, he succeeded SAJ as Prime Minister, thus breaking the alternation between the Ramgoolam and Jugnauth families at the head of the country, until the defeat in 2005.

1993 marked another pivotal year for the MMM. On August 18, Sir Anerood Jugnauth dismissed Paul Bérenger following his critical positions against the government. This decision caused a split within the party: a significant faction of the Political Bureau, led by Prem Nababsing (then leader of the MMM), Jean Claude de l’Estrac, Dharam Fokeer, and other figures, chose to stay in government and support SAJ.

On October 18, 1993, the MMM Political Bureau decided, by a majority of 8 to 6, to replace Paul Bérenger as Secretary General and spokesperson of the party with Jean Claude de l’Estrac. However, a week later, the Central Committee overturned this decision and chose to expel from the party all those who had supported the Political Bureau's position.

From November 1993, two MMMs coexisted: the MMM-Bérenger and the MMM-Nababsing. The crisis led to a legal battle for control of the name "MMM" and the heart symbol. Paul Bérenger ultimately won the ruling in 1994 before Judge Vinod Boolell, thereby retaining the name of the MMM.

This led, in June 1994, to the official creation of the Mauritian Militant Renewal (RMM) during a meeting in Rose-Hill. The RMM continued to support the MSM government, while Paul Bérenger and his loyalists, who held a majority in the Central Committee, found themselves in opposition. The RMM would gradually disappear after the 1995 elections.

This split reinforced Paul Bérenger's image as an uncompromising leader while illustrating once again the MMM's difficulties in maintaining lasting alliances with more pragmatic partners.

In the following years, he alternated between the roles of opposition leader (2005-2006, 2007-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2016), while retaining control of the MMM. In 2024, the MMM joined the Alliance of Change alongside the Labour Party. After the victory, Paul Bérenger was appointed Deputy Prime Minister without a portfolio on November 22, 2024.

But latent tensions erupted at the beginning of 2026. On March 20, he resigned from his number two position, citing ongoing discomfort and a feeling of being sidelined due to irreconcilable differences with Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam. This personal decision caused an earthquake within the MMM.

The Political Bureau, the Central Committee, and the Assembly of Delegates, convened on Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Belle-Rose, voted overwhelmingly, by a show of hands, to keep the party in government, against the explicit wishes of their historical leader. Paul Bérenger, who boycotted the Assembly calling it a "fake assembly" tainted by irregularities, appeared Thursday in a video alongside deputies Joanna Bérenger and Chetan Baboolall. He openly discussed the potential creation of a "new MMM" for the "true militants".

Since last week, the trio had indicated their intention to sit in the National Assembly as independent deputies (independent backbenchers). Starting this Tuesday, they will sit as members of the opposition.