Patrick Herminie of Seychelles wins presidential runoff election | Politics news

Patrick Herminie won with 52.7% of the vote, disqualifying incumbent President Wavell Ramkalawan from running for a second term.

Seychelles’ opposition leader, Patrick Herminie, won the election The presidential race in the countrydefeating incumbent leader Wavell Ramkalawan in the run-off, according to the Electoral Commission.

Official results announced early Sunday showed Herminie receiving 52.7 percent of the vote, while Ramkalawan received 47.3 percent.

Recommended stories

List of 3 itemsEnd of list

In his victory speech, Herminie pledged to lower the cost of living, revive public services and unify the island nation.

“The people have spoken,” the 62-year-old said at the Electoral Commission headquarters.

“I am deeply humbled by the trust people have placed in me,” he said. “I will be a president for all Seychellois, and I will end divisions by ending preferences, giving everyone the opportunity to prosper.”

Herminie’s victory gives his United Seychelles Party full control of the government after it also regained a majority in Parliament during the elections. The first round of the general elections last month.

The win is also a complete turnaround for Hermione, who was arrested in 2023 on witchcraft charges that were later dropped. He previously served as Speaker of the country’s Parliament from 2007 to 2016.

RamkalawanHe, who attended the Electoral Commission’s announcement of the results, congratulated Herminie, who became the sixth President of Seychelles.

“I leave with a legacy that would make many presidents blush… I hope President Herminie will continue to maintain this standard,” he said.

Pictures published by the Seychelles Nation newspaper showed the two leaders shaking hands after the announcement.

Outside the Electoral Commission headquarters, thousands of Herminie’s supporters burst into cheers and waved the country’s flag and party banners as they greeted him after his victory was announced, according to videos posted on social media.

The race between the two main contenders was decided in a runoff after there was no clear winner in the presidential election two weeks ago. Early voting began on Thursday, but most people in the island nation voted on Saturday.

Herminie and Ramkalawan campaigned passionately in a bid to address key issues for voters, including environmental damage and the drug addiction crisis in a country long seen as a tourist haven.

Ramkalawan campaigned for re-election based on his management of Seychelles’ economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of social protection.

But voters chose Herminie, who blamed Ramkalawan for widespread corruption and promised to scrap a hotel project authorized by his government that environmentalists say threatens the UNESCO-listed atoll.

Herminie also pledged to lower the retirement age from 65 to 63 and implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that examined human rights violations related to the 1977 coup and its aftermath.

A doctor by training, he previously headed the government’s drug control agency, and has promised to tackle the country’s high heroin addiction, which is partly blamed on the fact that the islands lie on the drug route between Africa and Asia.

The country’s Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Agency says between 5,000 and 6,000 people use heroin out of a population of about 120,000. Other estimates put the number as high as 10,000.

Seychelles, a country of 115 islands, is the richest country in Africa per capita.

It is located on an area of ​​1.2 million square kilometers (463,000 square miles) in the western Indian Ocean, and is a major tourist destination and a target for investment and security cooperation with China, the Gulf states, and India.