National Assembly election set for September 8, 9, 10 |16 July 2016

Seychellois will be going to the polls again, this time to elect members of the National Assembly.

The Office of the Electoral Commission has set the dates for September 8, 9 and 10. This was published in an extraordinary issue of the Official Gazette dated Friday July 15, 2016.

The announcement is in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 13 of the Elections Act, 1995.

Voting on September 8 and 9 will be in respect of voters of all electoral areas who are on the outer islands. On September 8 and 10, voting will be for all electoral areas on Mahé and Praslin other than in respect of voters who are on the outer islands.

On September 8, 9 and 10 voting will be for inner islands.

Nomination day for the legislative election has been set for August 17, 2016.

On nomination day, candidates must submit their respective nomination papers supported by

a nomination form; a list of 50 supporters; two passport-size colour photographs and a digital copy; the candidate’s party symbol or in case of an independent candidate the colour adopted by that candidate, and a digital copy; a certificate from an officer of the respective political party authorising a candidate to act on behalf of that party; a certificate from the chairman of the Electoral Commission to the effect that the candidates have satisfied the requirements to provide security for R1,500.

The process will take place at the Electoral Commissioner’s headquarters at the National Library, Victoria between 9am and 1pm.

Meanwhile, in a notice published at its office, the Electoral Commission has said the voter registration is now closed with the announcement of the dates for the upcoming polls.

So far, only the ruling Parti Lepep has confirmed its list of candidates and it did so last Friday when it launched its campaign ahead of parliamentary election.

Nominations of the party’s 25 candidates were approved last Friday evening during an extraordinary congress at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS).

Linyon Demokratik Seselwa is expected to announce its list of candidates during an extraordinary congress tomorrow at 3pm at the ICCS.

Meanwhile, on Thursday Linyon Sanzman announced the names of the party’s district representatives.

The Seychelles National Assembly consists of 32 members of which 25 are directly elected representing the 25 electoral districts in the country. Seven are proportionately elected.

The ruling party has won a majority in the assembly since the establishment of the Third Republic, which saw the return of a multi-party system in 1993.

In the last elections, all 25 directly elected seats were won by Parti Lepep which also holds six of the seven proportionately elected seats.

Franchesca Monnaie, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), currently holds the seventh proportional seat in the house.

PDM was the only contender alongside Parti Lepep in 2011 as the main opposition parties boycotted the election.

Parliamentary polls in Seychelles are held every five years. The last election took place between September 29 and October 1, 2011.