US party to choose presidential candidate: Patrick Herminie announces plan to compete 

Herminie (centre) made the announcement at the 36^th Annual Congress of the US. (United Seychelles)

The President of the United Seychelles (US) party, Patrick Herminie, has announced he will put his candidacy within his party to stand as a presidential candidate in the 2025 elections.

Herminie made the announcement in the second part of the 36^th Annual Congress of the US at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS) on Saturday.

This comes after a resolution adopted by the Central Committee in the first part of the Congress. The resolution was to launch the process for the selection of the candidates for the 2025 elections. This is a process that will take up to three to six months. The confirmation of the candidates will be announced in an extraordinary congress next year.

"The congress has put an obligation on us to launch the process to choose our candidates for the presidential and national assembly elections. This is an invitation for all members who feel they are capable to come forward and submit their candidatures," said Herminie.

He then announced that "today I would like to tell you that I personally have the intention of submitting my candidature."

The US 36th Annual Congress was held at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS). (United Seychelles) Photo License: CC-BY

Herminie told supporters that "we should not be afraid because the new US will judge you on your performance and hard work and not on the opinion of one or two individuals."

The sub-article 5.17, 31.2 and 31.3 of the party's constitution addresses its internal process to select candidates for both the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Seychelles presidential elections are expected to take place in 2025 and  United Seychelles.

Presidential elections in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, take place every five years.

There are currently three main political parties in the country – Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (Seychelles Democratic Alliance), which is the ruling party, United Seychelles, the main opposition party, and One Seychelles, a smaller party.

In the last elections in October 2020, President Wavel Ramkalawan, from the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa, won 54.9 percent of the votes followed by Danny Faure of the United Seychelles with 43.5 percent.

The LDS won 20 out of the 26 directly elected seats in the National Assembly and five proportionately elected seats.