Electoral Commission of Seychelles: Electoral boundaries will not change yet

The Delimitation of Boundaries Committee is tasked with providing data necessary to establish how extensively electoral boundaries are to be adjusted in Seychelles. (Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Electoral Commission of Seychelles announced on Monday that electoral boundaries will not change for the 2025 elections.

The statement was made by the chairperson of the Commission, Danny Lucas, who along with his top officials made a visit to President Wavel Ramkalawan and presented their report.

"The first phase of the exercise, whereby we established a delimitation committee for the technical works, is now finished," said Lucas.

The Delimitation of Boundaries Committee is tasked with providing data necessary to establish how extensively electoral boundaries are to be adjusted in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

From proposals already submitted during the first phase of the exercise, the committee has noted several disparities between electoral areas. Among these, is the balance of registered voters between certain districts for example, Anse Etoile district has a high number of voters compared to Port Glaud or Roche Caiman where the numbers are much lower.

As part of the exercise, the commission planned a series of consultations with all stakeholders, including members of the National Assembly, district authorities as well as leaders of religious denominations.

The consultations were scheduled for December last year, but were postponed due to the two disasters on December 7 - the landslides caused by heavy rain in the northern districts and the explosion in a CCCL explosives storage facility.

Top officials of the Electoral Commission paid a visit to President Wavel Ramkalawan and presented their report. (State House) Photo License: CC-BY

Lucas noted that gaining feedback is important before the Commission can make its final recommendations.

"We do not want to rush. It is within our authority to wave aside consultations due to the incidents since the Constitution allows us to do so. But we want to do it in a way that the population is also included in the decision. This is why we decided as a commission that we will not make any proposals for changes to the President, even if there would have been major changes across all districts," he told reporters.

Lucas said the Commission aims to be as transparent as possible and will be prioritising consultations with the public, political parties, civil society, as well as other stakeholders. This feedback will be collected and analysed before the final propositions are presented to the President and the National Assembly.

Apart from meetings, the Commission is anticipating that members of the public will also be providing their feedback through its social media platform and website.

The Commission has ensured that its social media platform and website are up and running.

The report presented to the President is one that is submitted every three years. While the delimitation boundaries will remain unchanged for the 2025 election, the Commission will continue with the consultations to present the final recommendations in the next report due in 2027.