After much anticipation and public speculation, the Seychelles Electoral Commission has finally announced provisional dates for the upcoming presidential election.
The provisional dates are from October 22 to 24, 2020. Here, ATQNews.com takes a look at the leading candidates jostling for the number one seat of the Indian Ocean Island nation.
The first name of course, is the incumbent, President Danny Faure who will be participating as a candidate in his first Presidential elections. (For those who don’t know, Faure assumed the High Office following the abrupt resignation of James Michel in 2016).
Danny Faure was a former member of Parliament, nominated to his seat. Prior to his unexpected ascension to the Presidency, he had served as a Minister and later was the Vice President to James Michel.
His United Seychelles political party evolved from the former SPPF party, which in turn was borne from the infamous SPUP party that prompted the 1977 military coup d’etat. For now, President Faure has not announced a running mate yet.
The second candidate who has indicated his intention to run – once again – in the upcoming elections is Rev. Wavel Ramkalawan. Having contested and lost six consecutive elections, Rev. Ramkalawan is no stranger to presidential polls. His present political party, Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), is regarded as the largest political party in the country. The party evolved from SNP, UO and Parti Seselwa over the years, and comprises of a gradual amalgamation of smaller political groupings along the way.
Rev. Ramkalawan’s running mate is Ahmed Afif, previously the running mate of Patrick Pillay, who is yet to pick up the gauntlet (as he has remained resolutely silent on the elections matter thus far). Since 1993, Ramkalawan has served in Parliament, barring one term where he boycotted the National Assembly. He has never held any Ministerial portfolio.
The third candidate tossing his hat into the ring on the platform of the One Seychelles political party is Alain St. Ange. One Seychelles as party is making his political debut, but it features seasoned figures who are no strangers to the world of politics.
Although their party, One Seychelles was launched only in 2019, the duo of St. Ange, the party’s President and Peter Sinon, who is the Secretary-General, have already established themselves as contenders to look out for in the upcoming election.
The two are familiar faces, having served previously as Government Ministers, with each holding prominent portfolios. Alain St. Ange also served two terms in the Island’s Legislative and has published books concentrating on the history of Seychelles politics. Notably, he resigned from his Ministerial post soon after Danny Faure adopted the Presidential Office from James Michel.
Currently, Alain St. Ange is the President of the African Tourism Board (ATB), and co-founder of the Project Hope Travel, an initiative designed to aid the recovery of the tourism industry of African countries following the global spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
The Seychelles elections are expected to be a tight race, where the top two candidates will likely go into a second round, if no one obtains above 50 percent of the votes on the October 24th 2020 polling day.
The elections are seen as a referendum for both Danny Faure and Wavel Ramkalawan, who have been leading two of the three branches (Executive & Legislative) of the Seychelles Government for some time.
