People's Party (Seychelles)

People's Party
Parti Lepep
Leader James Michel
Founder France-Albert René
Founded 1964
Newspaper The People
Women's wing Parti Lepep Women’s League
Ideology Democratic socialism
Political position Left-wing
National Assembly
14 / 33
Website
www.partilepep.com
Logo of SPUP from 1964 until 1991.
Seychelles
This article is part of a series on the
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Seychelles
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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]

The SPPF was founded in 1964 by France-Albert René,[2] under the name Seychelles People's United Party, and it has been led by him since 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 1996-2004; 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 (the current 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. Since 1993, candidates from Parti Lepep won all the presidential elections in the first round.[3]

Election results

Presidential Elections

Election date Party candidate Number of votes received Percentage of votes Number of votes received Percentage of votes
First round Second round
1979 France-Albert René 26,390 98%
1984 France-Albert René 32,883 92.6%
1989 France-Albert René 37,703 96.1%
1993 France-Albert René 25,627 59.5%
1998 France-Albert René 31,048 66.7%
2001 France-Albert René 27,223 54.2%
2006 James Michel 30,119 53.73%
2011 James Michel 31,966 55.46%
2015 James Michel 28,911 47.76% 31,512 50.15%

Parliamentary Elections

Election date Number of votes received Percentage of votes Number of seats
1967 8,621 48.2%
3 / 8
1970 15,834 44.1%
5 / 15
1974 19,920 47.63%
2 / 15
1979 Unknown 98%
23 / 25
1983 20,705 100%
23 / 25
1987 28,410 100%
23 / 25
1992 24,538 58.4%
14 / 22
1993 24,462 56.6%
27 / 33
1998 28,610 61.7%
30 / 34
2002 28,075 54.27%
23 / 34
2007 30,571 56.76%
23 / 34
2011 31,123 88.56%
31 / 31
2016 30,218 49.22%
14 / 33

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Elections in Seychelles – African Elections Database
  2. ↑ "Carrying on the legacy of Nelson Mandela". eTurboNews. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Presidential elections in Seychelles rescheduled for December 3rd to 5th". Seychelles News Agency. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.


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