Seychelles to hold rerun presidential election after no outright winner

VICTORIA, Seychelles (AP) — With no outright winner in Seychelles’ presidential electio n, the country will hold a rerun vote between the two main contenders, the electoral authority said Sunday.

Opposition figure Patrick Herminie received 48.8% of the vote, while the incumbent, Wavel Ramkalawan, garnered 46.4%, according to official results. A candidate needs to win more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner.

The date for the rerun election is yet to be announced.

Herminie represents the United Seychelles party, which dominated politics for decades in the country before losing power five years go. It was the governing party from 1977 to 2020.

Trying to prevent United Seychelles from returning to power, Ramkalawan seeks a second term as the leader of Africa’s smallest country. His governing Linyon Demokratik Seselwa party campaigned on economic recovery, social development and environmental sustainability.

Early voting began on Thursday, but most people voted on Saturday.

The 115-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean has become synonymous with luxury and environmental travel, which has bumped Seychelles to the top of the list of Africa’s richest countries by gross domestic product per capita, according to the World Bank.

But opposition to the governing party has been growing.

A week before the election, activists filed a constitutional case against the government, challenging a recent decision to issue a long-term lease for part of Assomption Island, the country’s largest, to a Qatari company for a luxury hotel development.

The lease, which includes reconstruction of an airstrip to facilitate access for international flights, has ignited widespread criticism that the agreement favors foreign interests over Seychelles’ extended welfare and sovereignty over its land.

With its territory spread across about 390,000 square kilometers (150,579 square miles), Seychelles is especially vulnerable to climate change, including rising sea levels, according to the World Bank and the U.N. Sustainable Development Group.

Another concern for voters was a growing drug crisis fueled by addiction to heroin. A 2017 U.N. report described the country as a major drug transit route, and the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index said that the island nation has one of the world’s highest rates of heroin addiction.

An estimated 6,000 people out of Seychelles’ population of 120,000 use the drug, while independent analysts say addiction rates approach 10%. Most of the country’s population lives on the island of Mahé, home to the capital, Victoria.

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Emilie Chetty, The Associated Press