United Seychelles

United Seychelles
United Seychelles
Leader	Patrick Herminie
Founder	France-Albert René
Founded	2 June 1964
Newspaper	The People
Women's wing	United Seychelles Women's League
Ideology	Democratic socialism; Social democracy; 1977–1991:; Communism[citation needed]; Marxism–Leninism[citation needed]
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing; 1977–1991:; Far-left
National Assembly	10 / 35
Website
	weareunitedseychelles.com
	Politics of Seychelles; Political parties; Elections;

United Seychelles 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) from 1978/9 to June 2009, when it changed its name to the People's Party (Seychellois Creole: Parti Lepep, PL).^[1] The party changed its name again in November 2018, from the People's Party to United Seychelles.^[2]^[3]

The party 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 party was the ruling party from 1977 to 2020 and was the sole legal party in the country from 1979 to 1991 (this period is referred to retrospectively as the "Second Republic"). The party 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).

Former Vice president of Seychelles Vincent Meriton has been the leader of the party since June 2017 (party president). He is the third president of the party since its creation in 1964. Meriton was preceded by former President of Seychelles James Michel.^[5]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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,^[6] 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 in the 2020 Seychellois general election with 54.9 percent of valid votes cast, upsetting incumbent President Danny Faure of United Seychelles. The party lost its first presidential poll in over 40 years since Seychelles gained independence. United Seychellois lost also in the General Assembly elections and Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) held its clear majority in the parliament.^[7]

After Vincent Meriton stepped down as party leader,^[8] Patrick Herminie was elected as the new leader in 2021.^[9] In October 2023, Herminie was charged by the Seychellois public prosecutor with witchcraft. He denied the charges and described them as politically motivated.^[10] In February 2024, the witchcraft accusations were lifted by the Victoria public prosecutor's office.^[11]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%	Result
Election	Party candidate	First round		Second round		Result
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	Result
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%	33 / 34	10	1st	Supermajority government
2016		30,218	49.22%	14 / 33	19	2nd	Minority government
2020	Vincent Meriton	27,185	42.35%	10 / 34	4	2nd	Opposition