Arvin Boolell (born आर्विन बूलेल्ल; May 26, 1953) is a Mauritian politician who served as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Early life

Boolell who was born in an Arya Samajist Indo Mauritian family in

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's e ...

, is the son of former leader of the Labour Party and former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, Sir

Satcam Boolell Sir Satcam Boolell GCSK, MP, QC, Kt (September 11, 1920 – March 23, 2006) was a Mauritian politician who served as member of the Legislative Assembly in Mauritius. He died on March 23, 2006 in Curepipe. He was also known as "Somduth" by his ...

. His younger brother Satyajit Boolell (also known as Ajit Boolell) became the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2009. He is also former minister

Anil Gayan Anil Kumarsingh Gayan (born 22 October 1948 in Triolet, Mauritius) is a Mauritian politician and lawyer. Early life, education and marriage Anil Gayan's ancestors migrated from India when the island was a British colony. He is the son of Socile Bo ...

's cousin. Writer, active politician and retired forensics doctor Satish Boolell who was elected Member of Parliament is also his cousin. He attended secondary school St Mary's College in Rose Hill and then studied medicine in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. After graduating and become a medical practitioner, he graduated with an LLM from the National University of Ireland. He then practiced for sometimes in Wales before coming back to the country.

Political life

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1987 in Constituency No 11, Vieux Grand Port and Rose Belle. He has been elected at Constituency No. 11 at all general elections (1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010) until 2014. Arvin Boolell was Opposition Whip from 2000 to 2005. Boolell has served as Minister of Agriculture (later known as Minister of Agro-Industry) from 2005 to 2008. He was involved in negotiations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

over economic issues. Following the cabinet reshuffling of 2008, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs where he remained until 2014. Following a Labour Party executive committee meeting on 12 May 2015 Arvin Boolell resigned as Labour Party Spokesperson after being verbally abused by backers of Navin Ramgoolam who refused to step down as leader of the party despite having lost the 2014 general elections. At the 2017 by-elections in Constituency No. 18 (Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes) Arvin Boolell was elected and became member of the national assembly. At the 2019 General Elections he was again elected in Constituency no. 18. Since the Labour Party leader Navin Ramgoolam was not elected as member of parliament, the party chose Arvin Boolell to be its parliamentary leader and being the opposition party with most seats, he became the Leader of the Opposition. He is also the Vice Chairman of Mauritius Labour Party.

Recognition

In 2011 Arvin Boolell was elevated to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of the Star and Key of Indian Ocean (G.O.S.K.).

Controversies

During his term in office as Minister of Foreign Affairs there were international press reports that in 2012 Arvin Boolell sold the island of

Agaléga Agaléga (french: îles Agaléga) is a dependency of Mauritius which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean, about north of Mauritius Island. The population of the islands as at July 2011 was estimated at 289. The islands h ...

to India as part of a deal to prevent the cancellation of the 1983 Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (Treaty) which is an essential part of the island's Offshore Banking sector. The sale of

would also enable India to build a military base on the island, which is now evidenced in the heavy build-up of military infrastructure in

. Details of the deal have not been revealed to the public, although the subsea surveys of the waters of Agalega have confirmed the presence of gigantic oil and gas reserves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boolell, Arvin 1953 births Living people Mauritian physicians Foreign Ministers of Mauritius Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Government ministers of Mauritius Grand Officers of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean People from Port Louis District Mauritian Hindus Mauritian politicians of Indian descent