Seychelles' 6 Leaders of Government Business in the Third Republic

(Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - On June 18 in 1993, the Third Republic of Seychelles was born and multi-party politics was introduced following 16 years of one-party rule.

This brought about a new governance structure under the new Constitution, and a governance structure adhering to the principles of the Separation of Powers.

Under the new Constitution, Cabinet Ministers could not be Members of the National Assembly and vice-versa.

On July 30, 2023, the Seychelles' National Assembly celebrated its 30^th anniversary.

SNA brings you the six Leaders of Government Business.   

Danny Faure - 1st Assembly 

The former President of Seychelles (2016-2020) became the first Leader of Government Business on July 30, 1993, for the Assembly's first sitting by a proclamation gazetted by the then President France Albert Rene, representing the Seychelles People's Progressive Front Party (SPPF). Faure remained in the post until parliament was dissolved in February 1998 by President Rene for fresh elections in March of the same year.

(Danny Faure Foundation) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

Patrick Herminie - 2^nd and 3^rd Assembly

After the 1998 parliamentary elections held on March 21 to 25, the National Assembly was now made up of 34 members, one more than the last session.

Herminie was also the Leader of Government Business after the 2002 National Assembly election.

Together with the proportionately elected members, the Seychelles Peoples Progressive Front (SPPF) party got 30 seats, three for the United Opposition and one for the Democratic Party.

The 3rd Assembly after the 2002 elections had a total of 34 Members of which 23 represented the SPPF party and 11 represented the Seychelles National Party party (SNP).

He served as the Leader of Government Business from 1998 to 2003.

(Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Marie-Louise Potter - 4th Assembly and 5^th Assembly

Potter was the first woman to be appointed as Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly after the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF) party, retained 23 seats in May 2007.

Eighteen seats were directly elected and five seats were proportionately elected.  The Seychelles National Party earned 11 seats among which four were proportionately elected.

Potter remained the Leader of Government Business after the 2011 elections in which only the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) contested the SPPF.  

(Mervyn Marie) Photo License: CC-BY

Marie-Antoinette Rose - 5^th Assembly

Rose became the Leader of Government Business from March 2012 to May 2016.

She first became an Assembly member in 2006, when she was proportionally nominated by the ruling SPPF.

She became the Leader of Government Business in her second mandate, from 2012 to May 2016. The SPPF changed its name to Parti Lepep (People's Party) in 2009.

(Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Charles De Commarmond - 6^th Assembly

In 2016, De Commarmond was the Leader of Government Business for Parti Lepep, which for the first time the opposition party - Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) - occupied 15 seats and the United Seychelles only 10 seats, while the country was governed by President Danny Faure. 

He was first elected as a Member of the National Assembly for the district of Cascade in 1993 until he retired in August 2020. 

Parti Lepep changed its name to United Seychelles in 2018.

(Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Bernard Georges - 7^th Assembly  

Georges has been the Leader of Government Business since the elections of October 2020 in which the LDS won 20 out of 26 constituencies.

He was first elected as a Member of the National Assembly for the central district of Les Mamelles in 2002, 2006, 2016, and 2020. His party did not contest the elections in 2011. 

(National Assembly) Photo License: CC-BY