Seychelles' first female presidential candidate Alexcia Amesbury votes on Praslin island

Alexcia Amesbury, the only female candidate contesting the Seychelles presidential elections. (Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Alexcia Amesbury, a Seychellois lawyer, also the first female presidential candidate in the Seychelles presidential elections, is the only candidate to vote on another island other than the main island of Mahé.

Amesbury, was the second candidate to cast her ballot at around 7.30 this morning at Grand Anse Praslin, one of the two districts on the second largest inhabited island of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The leader of the newly formed Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy, stayed for a while to observe the electoral process on the island.

She has highlighted some of her observations including to say that some of the voting booths at the Grand Anse Praslin voting station were not aligned properly and also allegations that a person had tried to vote twice on the third most populated island of La Digue.

Speaking to SNA after casting her vote this morning, Amesbury said that being a resident of Praslin, she feels really proud to be a candidate in the election.

“The atmosphere here on Praslin feels like people are taking this election more seriously. They are taking the time to think about it and they are making the right choice in doing so. They are not just coming down to vote without really thinking about it...,” Amesbury told SNA.

“Now that I have already cast my vote I am going down to Mahé, and will tour the [different electoral areas] on the island …I am excited and I have a huge expectation, because we all feel that this time we will experience change. I am expecting two changes today; first that ‘Parti Lepep’ will be removed from power and my second expectation is that we will finally have a president who will be determined through the ballot box.”

In total, 6,011 people are eligible to vote on Praslin Island, this includes 2,648 voters [1326 men 1322 women] registered in the Grand Anse district.

Most of the voters on the island; 3,363 are registered in the Baie Ste Anne district where there are 1,657 women and 1,706 men who are eligible to take part in the process.

The main polling day on this Saturday December 5 is a public holiday and nearly 71 thousand eligible Seychellois voters are being called to the polls this year, spread across 25 electoral districts on the three main inhabited islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

Thursday and Friday were the first two days of voting for people living and working on some of the more remote islands as well as in several special stations catering for example for people who work in essential services and are on duty today as well as detained persons, either in holding cells or prisoners awaiting trial.

A record number of six candidates are contesting this Presidential Elections. This includes incumbent President James Michel the leader of the ruling 'Parti Lepep' who is seeking a third and final mandate.

Alexcia Amesbury is among three first timers, which also include David Pierre and Patrick Pillay, a former high-ranking figure within Parti Lepep.

There are two other contenders who have presented their candidacy a number of times; Wavel Ramkalawan who is standing for the fifth time in a presidential election and the sole independent candidate Philippe Boullé.