(4 minutes read)
· Indian-origin opposition candidate -Wavel Ramkalawan – has been elected as the president of Seychelles
· The Indian-origin, political leader, whose ancestors had migrated from India years ago defeated Danny Faure, whose United Seychelles party has been in power since 1977
· Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ramkalawan on his ‘historic’ win and said he looked forward to strengthening the ‘close and traditional’ ties between India and Seychelles
· Seychelles has a good number of people of Indian origin
· Strategically located, Seychelles has been a critical part of India’s Indian Ocean policy
Indian-origin opposition candidate -Wavel Ramkalawan – has been elected as the president of Seychelles. The Indian-origin, political leader, whose ancestors had migrated from India years ago defeated Danny Faure, whose United Seychelles party has been in power since 1977.
Wavel Ramkalawan represents Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party. The party won 54.9% of the valid votes and defeated the incumbent Danny Faure by 7,384 votes. LDS also has a thumping majority in the parliament with 25 seats as against the United Seychelles’ 10. www.Trendsnafrica.com reported yesterday about the possibility of an opposition win in the election.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ramkalawan on his ‘historic’ win and said he looked forward to strengthening the ‘close and traditional’ ties between India and Seychelles. Seychelles has a good number of people of Indian origin. Strategically located, Seychelles has been a critical part of India’s Indian Ocean policy.
Ramkalawan is a fighter to the core. Five earlier defeats in the presidential elections did give only the strength to his campaign mostly conducted through social media. Political analysts say anti-incumbency was the key factor for United Seychelles defeat. They have been in power since multi-party democracy was introduced in the island nation since 1993. In the 2015 election, Ramkalawan, who is an Anglican priest, lost the election by a thin margin to the last president James Michel who won three presidential polls in 2006, 2011 and 2015 in a row before handing over the powers to Danny Faure a year later. Seychelles also elected an Indian-origin candidate, Sathya Naidu, to parliament.
Ramkalawan had travelled to India in 2018. During that time, he revealed that his ancestor left the village in Bihar in 1883 and first went to Patna. From there, he took a train to Calcutta and travelled on a 12-week sea voyage to Mauritius to work in a sugarcane plantation. When his great-grandfather died, his widow and two sons travelled to Seychelles, where they settled down.
