VICTORIA, Seychelles (AP) – Opposition leader Patrick Harminiy has won the presidential election. seychellesHe defeated incumbent leader Wavell Ramkalawan in the run-off, according to official results released early Sunday morning.
According to the results, Harmini received 52.7% of the votes while Ramkalawan received 47.3%.
Hamini is the head of the Seychelles Unionist Party, which led the country for 40 years until losing power in 2020. The party was the ruling party from 1977 to 2020. Ramkalawan, a member of the ruling Lignon Democratic Seselwa party, was seeking re-election for a second term.
“The people have spoken out,” Harminie said in a short speech after being declared president-elect. “I am deeply humbled by the trust that the people of Seychelles have placed in me, and I formally accept this mandate with gratitude, a deep sense of duty, and unwavering faith in the strength and character of the Seychelles people.”
Harminie served as Speaker of Parliament from 2007 to 2016.
Mr Harminie said the majority in parliament would allow the party to “work collaboratively and constructively to deliver the best outcome for the people”.
The race between the two main candidates in the Seychelles election was decided in a run-off because there was no clear winner in the presidential vote two weeks ago.
Early voting began on Thursday, but most people in the island nation voted on Saturday.
Both Harminie and Ramkalawan ran vigorous campaigns to address issues important to voters. Environmental destruction and drug addiction crisis In a country that has long been considered a tourist paradise.
The country has become synonymous with luxury and eco-friendly travel, which has propelled Seychelles to the top of Africa’s wealthiest countries in per capita gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.
However, opposition to the ruling party has increased in recent months.
A week before the first vote, activists sued the government over a recent decision to give a Qatari company a long-term lease on a 400,000 square meter (100 acre) area on Assumption Island, one of the country’s 115 islands, to develop a luxury hotel.
The lease included the reconstruction of the airstrip to facilitate international flight access and sparked widespread criticism for prioritizing foreign interests over Seychelles’ welfare and sovereignty.
Seychelles is particularly vulnerable to climate change, including rising sea levels, according to the World Bank and the United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
They are also facing an addiction crisis caused by heroin. A 2017 United Nations report identified the country as a major drug transport route, and the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index listed the island nation as having one of the highest rates of heroin addiction in the world.
___ This article has been corrected to show that Assumption is not the largest island in the Seychelles. This is Mahe.
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