Politics of Mayotte

The politics of Mayotte takes place in a framework of a French overseas region and department, which until 2011 was an overseas collectivity.

Local politics takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic setting, whereby the President of the General Council is the head of government, of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.

The status of Mayotte changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the départements of mainland France, with the particular designation of collectivité départementale, although the island is still claimed by the Comoros. This change was approved by 73% in a referendum on Mayotte. After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became a collectivité d'outre-mer while keeping the title collectivité départementale de Mayotte.

2009 referendum and effects

Mayotte became an overseas department of France (département d'outre-mer, DOM) on 31 March 2011 following the result of the March 2009 Mahoran status referendum, which was approved by around 95% of voters, with 61% of those eligible voting.

In order to effectuate this referendum, several laws has to be updated to conform with French law. These included a ban on polygamy before it became a department, increases to Women's rights such as equal inheritance rights, and the minimum age to legally marry was raised from 15 to 18 years old. The traditional Mayotte local court system, which combined Quranic principles of Islam with African and Malagasy customs, was phased out in favor of the French legal system.