Seychelles Election Ends in Opposition Victory

President Ramkalawan has run for the office a total of 6 times, succeeding for the first time in 2020. [Creative Commons]

Seychellois voters elected Wavel Ramkalawan of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party to serve as president of the archipelago country. Ramkalawan received 54.9 percent of votes cast in what marks his sixth presidential bid, defeating United Seychelles Party incumbent Danny Faure.

A Landmark Victory

The election was the first time that an opposition party won in the country’s 44-year history. Since Seychelles gained independence from Britain in 1976, the United Seychelles Party (USP) has consistently held the presidency. Though the Seychelles transitioned from a one-party system to an electoral democracy in 1993, the USP has maintained a tight grip on the country’s highest office.  

In his inauguration speech, Ramkalawan called upon the Seychellois public to move beyond party lines. “Yesterday we were LDS, United Seychelles and One Seychelles supporters. Today I call on each one of you to refer to each other as Seychellois, because this is who we are, and this is what unites us,” he said.

In addition to controlling the presidency, LDS also enjoys a majority in the National Assembly, holding 24 out of the country’s 35 parliamentary seats. 

Roger Mancienne, the LDS party leader, now serves as the new Speaker.

Electoral Conflict

The Seychellois Electoral Commission faced severe criticism in the wake of the 2015 election after allegations of vote buying and illegitimate votes.

The controversy inspired substantial electoral reforms led by a set of recommendations from the African Union. The Seychellois National Assembly revised the Election Act with 17 amendments. 

According to a report published on October 28 by the Citizens’ Democratic Watch Seychelles (CDWS), however, the latest election also was vulnerable to inconsistencies in the voting procedures and exhibited instances of voter intimidation. Gerard Lim Sam, the Mission Leader of CDWS, noted that “on polling day some voters received phone calls urging them to cast their vote in a particular way and…  [in] some instances SMS requesting them to refrain from voting.”

Despite mild discrepancies, the president-elect attempted to maintain a sense of unity among the Seychellois public. “This transition is being done in a peaceful manner and Seychelles is an example to many countries, showing how this process can be done in peace, in a democratic way,” said Ramkalawan.

Policy Changes 

The new administration also began to discuss an agenda for potential policy change on October 26. 

Ramkalawan recently announced that the Seychelles will not grant the Indian Navy access to a remote island to use as a military base, a commitment made during Faure’s incumbency. 

“We need to keep and strengthen relations with friendly countries,” he said in his election speech. “We will need to re-negotiate certain loans and see how our partners can work with us to move Seychelles forward.”

Ramkalawan also announced a hard-line drug policy during his inaugural address in response to a nationwide heroin boom and a rise in drug addiction statistics since the late 2000s. 

Under Ramkalawan’s administration, Seychellois politics will take a new course as they diverge from the unitary policies that have governed the country since it gained independence more than 40 years ago.