VICTORIA
Patrick Herminie, the candidate of the main opposition party United Seychelles, has been declared winner of the presidential election after securing more than half of the votes cast, according to official results released on Sunday by the Seychelles Electoral Commission.
Herminie, 62, garnered 52.7 percent of the valid votes, defeating incumbent President Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychellois Democratic Alliance, who received 47.3 percent in the runoff election held from Thursday to Saturday.
“Deeply humbled by the trust that the people have placed in me, I formally accept this mandate with gratitude, a profound sense of duty and an unshakeable faith in the strength and character of the Seychellois people,” Herminie said shortly after being declared president-elect.
A former Speaker of the National Assembly between 2007 and 2016, Herminie now takes the helm of the Indian Ocean archipelago for a five-year term, as stipulated by the country’s constitution.
The election went into a second round after no candidate achieved the required majority in the first round held in late September. Under Seychelles’ electoral laws, a candidate must win more than 50 percent of votes in the first round to avoid a runoff.
Herminie’s victory marks a significant political shift, ending Ramkalawan’s tenure after five years in power.
