France-Albert René

Ramkalawan's victory in 2020 – the first opposition success since the coup d'état staged by President France-Albert René in 1977 – was seen as an historic opportunity to complete the islands' return to fully-fledged democracy (AC Vol 62 No 4 Trouble in paradise Vol 63 No 2 A moment of reckoning for the gilded elite & Vol 42 No 18 By a whisker)...

The attempts by President Wavel Ramkalawan and his Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party to prosecute top officials of the Albert René government for terrorism and corruption are in danger of running into the sand...

When former president Albert René died in 2019 his opponents said it was a pity he never stood trial for corruption...

Sarah Zarqani-René who became Albert René's third wife in 1993 also amassed a significant property portfolio including a large ranch in Australia which she sold in 2018 for $2m...

This ‘Financial Assistance for Job Retention' scheme didn't stop him losing to Ramkalawan who became the first candidate to win the presidency from any other party since France-Albert René seized power in 1977...

President James Michel’s takeover from his predecessor Albert René in 2006 has allowed a gradual change of direction and political style...

In the 6 December legislative election President France-Albert René's Seychelles People's Progressive Front polled just one per cent above the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution and seek another term...

Yet after 24 years of paternalistic socialism plus lucrative capitalism for some President France-Albert René at 65 can relax for a while...

Investors are further deterred by other pillars of President France-Albert René's programme such as controls on the retail prices of imported goods; the predominance of state monopolies especially the SMB; and the absence of any sign of privatisation...

On 20 March the presidential and parliamentary elections are unlikely to upset President France-Albert René or his ruling Seychelles People' s Progressive Front which has 25 of parliament' s 33 seats...

President Albert René's government seems to have run out of steam...