Former Seychelles parliament speaker Patrick Herminie has won the country’s presidential election, defeating incumbent Wavel Ramkalawan in a run-off vote, official results announced on Sunday confirmed. The victory returns full control of government to Herminie’s United Seychelles party, which previously dominated the nation’s politics for over four decades.
Herminie secured 52.7% of the vote, completing a comeback for United Seychelles after the party regained its parliamentary majority in the first round of last month’s general election—its first such success since losing control in 2015.
Located in the western Indian Ocean, the Seychelles is Africa’s wealthiest nation per capita and a key hub for tourism, investment, and strategic cooperation involving China, India, and Gulf states.
Ramkalawan, a former Anglican priest, made history in 2020 by becoming the first president from outside United Seychelles—formerly known as the Seychelles People’s Progressive Front—since a 1977 coup that followed independence from Britain. He campaigned for re-election on his record of managing the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery and expanding social protections.
However, voters turned to Herminie, who accused Ramkalawan’s administration of fostering corruption and pledged to cancel a controversial hotel project approved under the outgoing government. Environmentalists say the development threatens a UNESCO-listed coral atoll.
Herminie has also promised to lower the retirement age from 65 to 63 and implement recommendations from the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission, which investigated human rights abuses linked to the 1977 coup.
Despite its relative prosperity, the Seychelles—an archipelago of 115 islands—faces major challenges, including high vulnerability to climate change and one of the world’s highest per-capita rates of heroin use.
Herminie, who served as speaker of parliament from 2007 to 2016, was briefly arrested in 2023 on witchcraft-related charges that were later dropped. United Seychelles has also faced corruption scandals during its 43-year rule, but Herminie said last month that the party had “turned the page” and learned from its past.
Sourcr:Africa Publicity
