Opposition leader Patrick Herminie wins Seychelles presidential polls

Opposition leader Patrick Herminie has won the presidential election in Seychelles, defeating incumbent leader Wavel Ramkalawan in the runoff vote.

Herminie garnered 52.7 per cent of the votes, with Ramkalawan taking 47.3 per cent. Herminie represents the United Seychelles party, which led the country for four decades before it lost power in 2020.

The race between the two main contenders in Seychelles’ election was decided in a runoff after there was no outright winner in the presidential vote two weeks ago. Herminie got 48.8 per cent of the votes and Ramkalawan got 46.4 per cent.

Early voting began Thursday, but most people in the island nation voted on Saturday (October 11).

Climate and addiction concerns

Both Herminie and Ramkalawan ran spirited campaigns trying to address key issues for voters, including environmental damage and a crisis of drug addiction in a country long seen as a tourist haven.

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The country 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 ruling party had been growing.

A week before the first round of voting, activists filed a lawsuit against the government challenging a recent decision to issue a long-term lease for a 100-acre area on Assomption, one of the country’s 115 islands, to a Qatari company to develop a luxury hotel.

Seychelles is especially vulnerable to climate change, including rising sea levels, according to the World Bank and the UN Sustainable Development Group. It also faces an addiction crisis fuelled by heroin.

(With agency inputs)