Coalitions and alliances are a regular feature of the Mauritian political landscape. The eight post-independence general elections have all been marked by electoral accords where those expecting to retain power or those aspiring to be in power hedge their bets by forming alliances with partners that ensure that they will be elected. Another fascinating feature is that, apart from that in 1976, all these coalitions have been formed before the election, allowing each party leader to engage in a series of tactical and bargaining strategies to ensure that his party gets a fair deal and, more recently, an equal deal, where the alliance partners shared the post of Prime Minister. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on this under researched area and to offer some explanation of the different mechanisms that exist