National Assembly election – October 22-24, 2020 |07 October 2020
Twenty-six directly elected members for seventh cohort
By Marie-Anne Lepathy/Gerard Govinden
Compared to the previous six cohorts, the seventh National Assembly will comprise 26 directly elected members now that Persévérance has been added as a new electoral district.
This is in accordance with Article 78 of the Constitution which addresses the composition of the National Assembly.
In addition, up to 10 seats will be filled by proportional representation, with each party nominating a proportionally elected member for each 10 per cent of votes polled. This means the maximum number of parliamentarians the house can hold is 36.
SPPF wins landslide victory in 1993
In the first multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections of the Third Republic on Friday July 23, 1993, the Seychelles People’s Progressive Party (SPPF) won landslide victories.
While France Albert Rene was elected President for a first five-year term with 59.50% of the votes (25,627 out of over 43,500 voters) and was sworn in as the first President in the Third Republic on Monday July 26, 1993, the SPPF got 27 members in the new 33-seat parliament after the party scored the highest number of votes in 21 out of the 22 constituencies. The party was allocated six additional seats under the proportional system.
James Mancham of the Democratic Party won 15,815 votes (36.72%) in the Presidential election but in the legislative election his party won only one electoral area – Bel Ombre. DP thus qualified for four additional seats under the proportional system.
With a total of 4,163 votes (9.71%) of the votes cast, United Opposition qualified for a proportional seat.
SPPF gets 24 direct seats in 1998
For the 1998 parliamentary elections held on March 21, 22 and 23, 25 directly elected seats were up for the taking – three more than at the previous election in 1993. With the increase in the number of directly elected seats in the National Assembly the Constitution now catered for “not more than 10 members elected on the basis of the scheme of proportional representation”.
The SPPF took 24 of the 25 seats leaving only one for the United Opposition at St Louis.
The SPPF scores were over 50% in all districts except St Louis where it lost to the United Opposition’s candidate Wavel Ramkalawan.
Together with the proportionally elected members, the SPPF got 30 seats (6 proportional for the 61.71% of the votes), three for the United Opposition (2 proportional for the 26.06% of the votes) and one for the Democratic Party (1 proportional for the 12.10% of the votes).
The National Assembly was now made up of 34 members, one more than the previous cohort.
SPPF wins majority in 2002
The SPPF of President France Albert Rene won 18 of the 25 seats contested at the 2002 National Assembly election ran from December 4-6.
The opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP), winner of only one seat at the 1998 election, improved its tally to seven directly elected seats.
The SPPF polled over 54 percent of the votes, meaning it got an additional five members on the proportionally elected basis as one proportionally elected seat is allocated for each 10 percent of votes won.
The SNP polled over 40 percent of the votes meaning it got four additional proportionally elected members.
The new National Assembly for the five years beginning in 2002 were made up of 34 members, 23 for the SPPF and 11 for the SNP.
The other main party contesting the election, the Democratic Party (DP) polled less than 10 percent of the votes and therefore did not qualify for a proportionally elected seat and was absent in the assembly.
The new National Assembly was sworn in on December 17, 2002.
SPPF retains majority in 2007
The ruling SPPF retained its 23-seat majority in the National Assembly in 2007 after the party won 18 directly elected and five proportionate seats in the May 10-12 election with 56,2% of the 55,827 votes.
The Seychelles National Party (SNP) retained its 11 seats when seven of its candidates were voted in, also earning four proportionate seats. It garnered 43.8% of the votes.
The fourth National Assembly consisted of 34 members.
Parti Lepep gets absolute majority in 2011
After the main opposition party – Seychelles National Party – boycotted the election, all the 25 ruling Parti Lepep’s (formerly SPPF) candidates won National Assembly seats in the September 20 – October 1 election.
Parti Lepep got 31,123 or 88.56% of the 35,145 votes which was 60.3% of the 51,592 votes cast as 16,447 votes were rejected.
The party also qualified for six proportionally elected members.
Formed in 2011, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), the only party which contested the election, polled 3,828 votes which added up to 10.89% of the 35,145 valid votes cast. But it did not win any seat as according to the Electoral Commission it had won only about 7% of the total votes cast, a decision its leader David Pierre contested and brought before the Constitutional Court.
On December 15, 2011, Mr Pierre, whose party had won its appeal for the allocation of a proportionally elected seat in the National Assembly in a ruling by the Court of Appeal, nominated and voted himself leader of the opposition after being sworn in as his party’s proportionally elected member in the National Assembly.
Then on May 16, 2016, a new National Assembly opposition leader – Francesca Monnaie – was sworn in after Mr Pierre submitted his resignation a day earlier.
Ms Monnaie took the oath of allegiance before Speaker Patrick Herminie to fill the only seat held by the opposition. She was formerly the Popular Democratic Movement’s secretary general.
LDS opposition sweeps to victory in 2016
In 2016, Seychellois voted over three days – September 8, 9 and 10 – to elect their representatives for the sixth National Assembly of the Third Republic.
Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) coalition swept to victory in the final count of ballot papers in the early morning of September 11, 2016. LDS picked up 15 of the 25 electoral districts leaving Parti Lepep (PL) with 10.
The National Assembly came under the control of the opposition for the first time since the return of multiparty politics in 1993.
Eight proportional seats were awarded – four to each of the two largest parties. LDS won 30,444 votes equivalent to 49.59% which earned the party the additional four proportional seats and Parti Lepep now United Seychelles with its 30,218 votes equivalent to 49.22% also won an additional four proportional seats.
The National Assembly was made up of 33 members.
It remains to be seen what will be the composition of the seventh National Assembly with four political parties – United Seychelles (US), Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), Lalyans Seselwa (LS) and One Seychelles – as well as two independent candidates vying for the seats.