1998_Seychellois_general_election

1998 Seychellois general election

1998 Seychellois general election

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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.

Quick Facts Registered, Turnout ...

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]

Results

President

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]

More information Candidate, Running mate ...

Parliament

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]

More information Party, Votes ...

References

  1. [1]
    Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp785-786 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
  2. [2]
    "The Seychelles: parliamentary elections National Assembly, 1998". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  3. [3]
    "International: Serpent in the garden". The Economist. 1998-03-14. p. 52.
  4. [4]
    "News in brief: Seychelles sticks to Rene". The Guardian. 1998-03-24. p. 11.
  5. [5]
    Cornwell, Rupert (1998-03-12). "Co-operation in Africa". The Independent. p. 13.
  6. [6]
    "Joint inspection team for Seychelles". BBC News Online. 1998-03-11. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  7. [7]
    "Rene wins Seychelles presidential elections". Manila Standard. 1998-03-24. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  8. [8]
    "Elections in the Seychelles". African Elections Database. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
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