NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF SEYCHELLES

Political history of Seychelles

This article discusses the National Assembly of Seychelles from the history of the assembly and further list the presidents.

The unicameral National Assembly is the Seychelle’s legislative body.

The National Assembly in its current constellation formed following elections held on 22–24 October 2020, with a total of 35 members. The current Speaker of the National Assembly is Roger Mancienne, in office since 28 October 2020.

Background

The current National Assembly was preceded by the Legislative Council of Seychelles from 1962 to 1970, the Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1974, the House of Assembly from 1975 to 1976, the National Assembly 1976 to 1977 and the People’s Assembly from 1979 to 1993.

Read: POLITICAL HISTORY OF SEYCHELLES

26 members are elected in single member constituencies using the simple majority (or First-past-the-post) system. The remaining up to nine members are elected through a system of proportional representation. Members serve five-year terms.

The working language of the National Assembly is Seychellois Creole. With permission from the speaker, members may address the assembly in English or French. Visitors may address the assembly in other languages with the speaker’s permission.

List of speakers

Speakers and deputy speakers of the National Assembly of Seychelles since the 1993 multiparty elections:

Legislature Speaker Deputy Entered office Left office
First National Assembly Francis MacGregor Shelton Jolicoeur 30 July 1993 1998
Second National Assembly Francis MacGregor Shelton Jolicoeur 30 March 1998 2002
Third National Assembly Francis MacGregor Shelton Jolicoeur
Dick Esparon
17 December 2002 2007
Fourth National Assembly Patrick Herminie Wilby Lucas 29 May 2007 2011
Fifth National Assembly Patrick Herminie Andre Pool 2011 September 2016
Sixth National Assembly Patrick Pillay Nicholas Prea 27 September 2016 29 January 2018
Nicholas Prea Ahmed Afif 6 March 2018 28 October 2020
Seventh National Assembly Roger Mancienne Gervais Henrie 28 October 2020 present

2020 National Assembly elections

On 25 October, Wavel Ramkalawan was declared the winner of the presidential election with 54.91% of the vote, marking the first peaceful transfer of presidential power between different political parties since independence in 1976. He had run unsuccessfully in the presidential elections from 1998 onward. Danny Faure attended Ramkalawan’s victory speech; in his speech, Ramkalawan emphasized reconciliation: “In this election, there were no losers, there were no winners — our country was given the opportunity as the ultimate winner.”