United Seychelles

United Seychelles (formerly known as the People's Party, Seychellois Creole: Parti Lepep, PL) is a political party in Seychelles. It publishes a newspaper called The People. It was known as the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (French: Front Progressiste du Peuple Seychellois) until June 2009.[1] In November 2018, the party changed its name from Parti Lepep to United Seychelles.[2][3]

United Seychelles
Leader	Vincent Meriton
Founder	France-Albert René
Founded	1964
Newspaper	The People
Women's wing	Parti Lepep Women’s League
Ideology	Democratic socialism Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
National Assembly	10 / 33
Party flag
Website
weareunitedseychelles.com
Politics of Seychelles Political parties Elections

Logo of SPUP from 1964 until 1991.

Seychelles
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Seychelles
Constitution
Cabinet President Wavel Ramkalawan Vice-President Ahmed Afif
Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Roger Mancienne
Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice: Mathilda Twomey
Elections Political parties Recent elections Presidential: 2015 2020 Parliamentary: 2016 2020
Administrative divisions Districts Outer Islands
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Sylvestre Radegonde Diplomatic missions of / in Seychelles Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Other countries

The SPPF was founded in 1964 by France-Albert René,[4] under the name Seychelles People's United Party, and it was led by him from its inception. The SPUP/SPPF has been the ruling party since 1977 and was the sole legal party in the country from 1979 to 1991 (this period is referred to retrospectively as the "Second Republic"). The SPPF is led by a Central Executive Committee.

Leading members of the party over the years have been René, James Michel (formerly the chief of staff of the armed forces, information minister, finance minister and vice president from 1996 to 2004; he was the President of Seychelles from 2004 to 2016), Guy Sinon, Jacques Hodoul (a former foreign minister who was regarded as the party's chief ideologue), Joseph Belmont (former Vice President of Seychelles), and Maxime Ferrari (a former René loyalist who later supported the opposition and wrote an autobiography).

During the era of one-party rule, the party was funded by dues paid by its members and from foreign governments including Tanzania, Algeria, Libya and East Germany.

The party maintains branches in each electoral district and utilizes an extensive system of patronage. At the parliamentary election in 2011, the party won 88.56% of the popular vote and all 31 seats in the National Assembly. That fell to 49.22% and 14 seats in the national assembly after the parliamentary election in 2016, leaving the party in parliamentary opposition for the first time. From 1993 (when opposition parties were legalised) to 2011, candidates from the party won all the presidential elections in the first round,[5] while in 2016 they won in the second round, and in 2020 they lost for the first time. The party also held a majority in the National Assembly independence until 2016. Seychelles opposition candidate Wavel Ramkalawan won the archipelago’s presidential election with 54.9 percent of valid votes cast, upsetting incumbent President Danny Faure of United Seychelles. The opposition, narrowly defeated in a presidential election in 2015 and buoyed by a landmark victory in a parliamentary poll a year later, won its first presidential poll in the 40 years since Seychelles gained independence from Britain.[6]