Patrick Herminie of Seychelles’ main opposition party wins presidential election

VICTORIA | Xinhua | Patrick Herminie, candidate of the largest opposition party in Seychelles, the United Seychelles, has won the presidential election by garnering more than 50 percent of the votes, according to official results released Sunday by the country’s electoral commission.

The official results showed that Herminie received 52.7 percent of the valid votes, while incumbent President Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychellois Democratic Alliance garnered 47.3 percent in the runoff.

“Deeply humbled by the trust that the people have placed in me, I formally accept this mandate with gratitude, a profound sense of duty and an unshakeable faith in the strength and character of the Seychellois people,” Herminie said after he was declared the president-elect.

Herminie, 62, served as the speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles from 2007 to 2016.

Under the constitution, the presidential term lasts for five years. A candidate who secures more than half of the votes in the first round is declared the winner. If no candidate achieves this majority, the two leading contenders advance to a second round of voting.

The Indian Ocean archipelago proceeded to a runoff presidential election from Thursday to Saturday, after no candidate secured more than half of the votes in the first round in late September. ■