National Assembly election |18 August 2016
The race is on!
Candidates from four political parties and three independent ones submitted their nomination forms yesterday, showing their intention to take part in the National Assembly election next month.
They presented their documents to the Electoral Officers at the Electoral Commission’s headquarters at the National Library, Victoria.
The Electoral Commission of Seychelles had set Wednesday August 17 as nomination day for all parties and independent candidates to submit their documents for the National Assembly election set for September 8, 9 and 10, 2016.
Candidates for the Parti Lepep were the first to register, followed by Danny Sofa, independent candidate for Anse aux Pins, Georgie Prudence, independent candidate for Mont Buxton, Ralph Volcère, independent candidate for Au Cap, Seychelles Patriotic Movement (SPM), Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) and Lafors Sosyal Demokratik (LSD).
The process took place in the presence of the Electoral Commission chairman Hendrick Gappy, chief electoral officer Joseph Athanasius, Lorna Lepathy, chief registration officer,electoral officers and their deputies.
The candidates had to produce a nomination form with all the necessary details recommended by the Electoral Commission; certificate from their political party if they are not an independent candidate and another certificate as proof of security deposit payment of R1,500 per candidate; passport photo and logo or colour of their affiliated political party.
As for the independent candidates they had to use a colour to represent them. All candidates must have the signature of 50 people who are registered on the voters’ list.
After the registration they were issued an acceptance letter from the commission. The next step will be an endorsement letter from the Electoral Commission and drawing of lots to decide the order the candidates will appear on the ballot paper and the order in which they will make their political broadcasts on television and radio.
Generally the process went well in the beginning with Parti Lepep being the first political party to register its 25 candidates. But for the SPM and LSD there were some issues which needed sorting out especially with regard to signatures.
All political parties and independent candidates expressed the wish for a peaceful election. They are all confident of doing well and winning.
Their advice to the voters is to choose freely what candidate they will vote for and not to be coerced into making their choices.
The accompanying photos show the candidates of the four political parties and the independent ones going through the nomination formalities yesterday.
Seychelles NATION hopes to publish the names and photos of all candidates in a future issue.