The Seychelles National Party (SNP) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party in Seychelles. Its followers emphasize active multiparty democracy, respect for human rights and liberal economic reforms. It was founded in response to what it called the "totalitarian regime" of former President

France-Albert René France-Albert René (; 16 November 1934 – 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 2nd Prime Minister from its in ...

. It publishes a newsletter called ''Regar'', which is frequently sued for libel by government officials. On ''Regar's'' front page of every issue is a quote from the constitution of Seychelles invoking their right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The SNP was formed by the merger of three separate opposition parties in 1994: the Seychelles National Movement, led by

Gérard Hoarau Gérard Hoarau (7 December 1950 – 29 November 1985) was an exiled opposition leader from Seychelles and was head of the Mouvement Pour La Resistance (MPR) that sought the peaceful overthrow of the France-Albert René regime which had come to po ...

; the National Alliance Party, led by Philippe Boullé (an independent presidential candidate in the 2001 presidential election); and Parti Seselwa, led by

Wavel Ramkalawan Wavel Ramkalawan (born 15 March 1959) 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 ...

. Ramkalawan, an Anglican priest, is the SNP's current leader. He won 44.9% of the vote in the 2001 presidential election, behind René (54.2%) and ahead of Boullé (0.9%). At parliamentary elections in December 2002, the SNP won 42.6% of the vote and 11 seats out of 34. Seven members were directly elected and four were chosen by proportional representation. The July/August 2006 presidential elections gave James Michel of the SPPF 54% of the votes and Wavel Ramkalawan 46% of the votes. The last Presidential elections held in December 2015 saw SNP achieving only 35% of the popular votes in the first round. It joined with other smaller political parties under the banner of Union for Change to contest the second round of the Presidential Elections. The Union achieved 49.85% of the popular votes leaving the incumbent President James Michel to claim a slim victory. The

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of the National Assembly was held on the 22–24 October 2020. The Seychelles National Party, the Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy and the Seychelles United Party formed a coalition,

Linyon Demokratik Seselwa Linyon Demokratik Seselwa ( en, Seychellois Democratic Alliance/Union, LDS) is a liberal political coalition which has governed since 2016 in the Seychelles. They have 25 seats in the National Assembly. The coalition was originally made up of t ...

(LDS). LDS won 25 seats and US got 10 seats of the 35 seats of the National Assembly. In the simultaneous presidential election

won and he was the first president since 1977 who did not represent the long-term ruling party.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

Notable people

Norbert Loizeau Norbert Loizeau is a Seychelles engineer and politician. member of the National Assembly of Seychelles. he is a member of the Seychelles National Party The Seychelles National Party (SNP) is a liberal political party in Seychelles. Its foll ...

Satya Naidu The Satya Naidu or Sathyanarayanan Sudarsan Naidu (born 9 November 1992) is the first Hindu member of Seychelles National Assembly. He is also the youngest Parliamentarian of the 7th National Assembly. He was elected from the St. Louis constitu ...

References

External links