Seychellois general election, 1998
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General elections were held in the Seychelles between 20 and 22 March 1998. Incumbent President France-Albert René and his Seychelles People's Progressive Front won both elections with over 60% of the vote,[1] defeating a divided opposition.
Contents
Campaign
On the 4 February 1998 it was announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections would be held at the same time in March.[2] President René and his ruling Seychelles People's Progressive Front were expected to easily win the elections.[3] René enjoyed strong support for introducing a social welfare system and benefited from the inability of the opposition to unite against him.[2] He was challenged by the former President James Mancham of the Seychelles Democratic Party, who he had deposed in a coup in 1977, and also by Wavel Ramkalawan of the new United Opposition party.[4]
The election saw a joint team of international election monitors from the Commonwealth of Nations and Francophonie observe the election, the first time they had sent a combined team to observe an election.[5][6] The team was led by Sir John Compton, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia.[6] The monitors said the election was mainly free and fair, and complemented it on being well organised.[7] However, there were some complaints about vote buying by government officials.[7]
Election results
Presidential results
President René won the presidential election with two-thirds of the vote, while former President Mancham was beaten into third place by Wavel Ramkalawan.[8]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| France-Albert René | Seychelles People's Progressive Front | 31,048 | 66.7 |
| Wavel Ramkalawan | United Opposition | 9,098 | 19.5 |
| James Mancham | Seychelles Democratic Party | 6,427 | 13.8 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 977 | - | |
| Total | 47,550 | 100 | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. | |||
Parliamentary results
The parliamentary results saw the governing Seychelles People's Progressive Front win 24 of the 25 directly elected seats and a further 6 of the 9 seats that were elected proportionally.[7] The opposition Democratic Party was reduced to only one seat, while the new United Opposition won three seats.[7]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seychelles People's Progressive Front | 28,610 | 61.7 | 30 | +3 |
| United Opposition | 12,084 | 26.1 | 3 | +2 |
| Seychelles Democratic Party | 5,609 | 12.1 | 1 | -4 |
| Independents | 60 | 0.1 | 0 | - |
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,205 | - | - | - |
| Total | 47,568 | 100 | 34 | +1 |
| Source: Nohlen et al. | ||||
References
- ↑ Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp785-786 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
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