United Seychelles

United Seychelles (formerly known as the People's Party, Seychellois Creole: Parti Lepep, PL) is a political party in Seychelles. It publishes a newspaper called The People. It was known as the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (French: Front Progressiste du Peuple Seychellois) until June 2009.[1] In November 2018, the party changed its name from Parti Lepep to United Seychelles.[2][3]

United Seychelles
LeaderVincent Meriton
FounderFrance-Albert René
Founded1964
NewspaperThe People
Women's wingParti Lepep Women’s League
IdeologyDemocratic socialism
Social democracy
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
National Assembly
10 / 33
Party flag
Website
weareunitedseychelles.com
Logo of SPUP from 1964 until 1991.
Seychelles
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The SPPF was founded in 1964 by France-Albert René,[4] under the name Seychelles People's United Party, and it was led by him from its inception. The SPUP/SPPF has been the ruling party since 1977 and was the sole legal party in the country from 1979 to 1991 (this period is referred to retrospectively as the "Second Republic"). The SPPF is led by a Central Executive Committee.

Leading members of the party over the years have been René, James Michel (formerly the chief of staff of the armed forces, information minister, finance minister and vice president from 1996 to 2004; he was the President of Seychelles from 2004 to 2016), Guy Sinon, Jacques Hodoul (a former foreign minister who was regarded as the party's chief ideologue), Joseph Belmont (former Vice President of Seychelles), and Maxime Ferrari (a former René loyalist who later supported the opposition and wrote an autobiography).

During the era of one-party rule, the party was funded by dues paid by its members and from foreign governments including Tanzania, Algeria, Libya and East Germany.

The party maintains branches in each electoral district and utilizes an extensive system of patronage. At the parliamentary election in 2011, the party won 88.56% of the popular vote and all 31 seats in the National Assembly. That fell to 49.22% and 14 seats in the national assembly after the parliamentary election in 2016, leaving the party in parliamentary opposition for the first time. From 1993 (when opposition parties were legalised) to 2011, candidates from the party won all the presidential elections in the first round,[5] while in 2016 they won in the second round, and in 2020 they lost for the first time. The party also held a majority in the National Assembly independence until 2016. Seychelles opposition candidate Wavel Ramkalawan won the archipelago’s presidential election with 54.9 percent of valid votes cast, upsetting incumbent President Danny Faure of United Seychelles. The opposition, narrowly defeated in a presidential election in 2015 and buoyed by a landmark victory in a parliamentary poll a year later, won its first presidential poll in the 40 years since Seychelles gained independence from Britain.[6]

Electoral history

Presidential elections
Election Party candidate Votes % Votes % Result
First round Second round
1979 France-Albert René 26,390 98% - - Elected Y
1984 32,883 92.6% - - Elected Y
1989 37,703 96.1% - - Elected Y
1993 25,627 59.5% - - Elected Y
1998 31,048 66.7% - - Elected Y
2001 27,223 54.2% - - Elected Y
2006 James Michel 30,119 53.73% - - Elected Y
2011 31,966 55.46% - - Elected Y
2015 28,911 47.76% 31,512 50.15% Elected Y
2020 Danny Faure 28,178 43.51% - - Lost N

National Assembly elections
Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
1967 France-Albert René 8,621 48.2%
3 / 8
 3 2nd Opposition
1970 15,834 44.1%
5 / 15
 2 2nd Opposition
1974 19,920 47.63%
2 / 15
 3 2nd Opposition
1979 98%
23 / 25
 21 1st Sole legal party
1983 20,705 100%
23 / 25
 1st Sole legal party
1987 28,410 100%
23 / 25
 1st Sole legal party
1992 24,538 58.4%
14 / 22
 9 1st Majority government
1993 24,462 56.6%
27 / 33
 13 1st Supermajority government
1998 28,610 61.7%
30 / 34
 3 1st Supermajority government
2002 28,075 54.27%
23 / 34
 7 1st Supermajority government
2007 James Michel 30,571 56.76%
23 / 34
 1st Supermajority government
2011 31,123 88.56%
31 / 31
 8 1st Supermajority government
2016 30,218 49.22%
14 / 33
 17 2nd Minority government
2020 Vincent Meriton 27,185 42.35%
10 / 33
 4 2nd Opposition

Notable people

References
  1. Elections in Seychelles – African Elections Database
  2. "Parti Lepep, seeking platform of unity, changes name to United Seychelles". www.seychellesnewsagency.com. Retrieved Oct 25, 2020.
  3. "Seychelles Ruling Party Changes Name Ahead of 2020 Elections". Nov 26, 2018. Retrieved Oct 25, 2020 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  4. "Carrying on the legacy of Nelson Mandela". eTurboNews. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  5. "Presidential elections in Seychelles rescheduled for December 3rd to 5th". Seychelles News Agency. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  6. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/25/seychelles-opposition-candidate-wins-presidential-election


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