General elections were held in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

between 20 and 22 March 1998.

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

France-Albert René France-Albert René (; 16 November 1935 – 27 February 2019) was a Seychellois lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the second President of Seychelles from 1977 to 2004. He also served as the country's second Prime Minister from its ...

and his Seychelles People's Progressive Front won both elections with over 60% of the vote,

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', pp785-786 defeating a divided opposition.

Campaign

On the 4 February 1998 it was announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections would be held at the same time in March. President René and his ruling Seychelles People's Progressive Front were expected to easily win the elections. René enjoyed strong support for introducing a

social welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

system and benefited from the inability of the opposition to unite against him. He was challenged by the former President James Mancham of the

Seychelles Democratic Party The Seychelles Democratic Party is a List of political parties in Seychelles, political party in Seychelles. It was founded by the late Sir James Mancham and David Joubert in July 1964, and governed the country from 1970 to 1977. History After a ...

, who he had deposed in a coup in 1977, and also by

Wavel Ramkalawan Wavel Ramkalawan (born 15 March 1961) is a Seychellois politician and Anglican priest who has been serving as the President of Seychelles since 26 October 2020. Ramkalawan was an opposition MP from 1993 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. He also served as ...

of the new United Opposition party. The election saw a joint team of international election monitors from the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

and

Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

observe the election, the first time they had sent a combined team to observe an election. The team was led by Sir

John Compton Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first prime minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton ser ...

, former Prime Minister of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

. The monitors said the election was mainly free and fair, and complemented it on being well organised. However, there were some complaints about vote buying by government officials.

Results

President

President René won the presidential election with two-thirds of the vote, while former President Mancham was beaten into third place by Wavel Ramkalawan.

Parliament

The parliamentary results saw the governing Seychelles People's Progressive Front win 24 of the 25 directly elected seats and a further 6 of the 9 seats that were elected proportionally. The opposition Democratic Party was reduced to only one seat, while the new United Opposition won three seats.

References

{{Seychellois elections Elections in Seychelles

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Presidential elections in Seychelles