Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth conceded defeat in Sunday’s elections after early results showed his five-party Alliance Lepep coalition trailing its main rival.

“The people have chosen another team to lead the country,” Jugnauth told reporters from his constituency in the centre of the Indian Ocean island nation on Monday. “I respect the choice.”

Jugnauth, 63, was seeking a third straight term as premier, but the partial results showed the opposition four-party Alliance du Changement leading in all constituencies for which tallies had been released. 

If it does secure an outright parliamentary majority as expected, its flagbearer Navinchandra Ramgoolam — who previously served three terms as prime minister — will reclaim the top post. Final results are expected later on Monday.  

While the Mauritian economy has been booming, with gross domestic product expected to expand more than 6% annually until 2030, there has been mounting public anger over allegations of government fraud and corruption. Jugnauth’s attempts to ban the use of social media following what he said was a cyberattack may have also alienated voters.  

Ramgoolam, 78, the son of the nation’s first post-independence leader, was voted out of office a decade ago. 

His alliance has pledged to bring down the prices of food, fuel and medicines, raise old-age pensions, reorganize the nation’s ports, airports and national airline, and overhaul the electoral system. 

A nation of about 1.26 million people, Mauritius has seen several peaceful transfers of power since it gained independence from Britain in 1968. Local media outlets however reported several incidents of unrest and violence after polls closed on Sunday.

  - Bloomberg