(Bloomberg) -- Voters in the Seychelles elected a new president as Wavel Ramkalawan defeated the incumbent in his sixth leadership attempt.
Ramkalawan won with 54.9% of votes compared with 43.5% secured by Danny Faure, according to Danny Lucas, chairman of the electoral commission, in a broadcast by the state-owned television station.
The Linyon Demokratik Seselwa won 25 out 35 parliamentary seats, according to the electoral commission. The Indian Ocean island archipelago held concurrent presidential and parliamentary polls from Thursday to Saturday.
A 59-year-old priest from the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa party, Ramkalawan was vying in his sixth presidential election and what he said would be his final attempt. In 2015, he was runner-up, losing by 193 votes, according to the electoral commission’s website.
“We will look at how we will relaunch the economy. We are talking in terms of investment to encourage and give more importance to Seychellois,” Ramkalawan said in a Sept. 22 interview with the Seychelles News Agency. “We need to make sure that the foreign exchange that we have does not leave Seychelles too fast.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
POPULAR