the national vote, failing to qualify for representation on the commission. After the promulgation of the new constitution in 1993, two other opposition parties joined Parti Seselwa to form The United Opposition (UO) and contest the 1993 general elections. The combined party won 9% of the vote, enabling it to appoint one member (Ramkalawan) to the National Assembly. In 1998, Ramkalawan led his party into the second multi-party general elections. The party polled 27% of the national vote and increased its National Assembly representation to three, beating the Democratic Party of former President James Mancham into third place. Ramkalawan became the first directly elected member of the party in the Assembly, winning his home constituency of St Louis, which he has represented continuously since. In addition, he succeeded Mancham as Leader of the Opposition, a post he continued to hold until 2020. In the 2001 presidential elections, Ramkalawan polled 45% of the vote, losing to the 54% vote won by President René. The next year, Ramkalawan led his party, now renamed the Seychelles National Party (SNP), into the National Assembly elections. The party increased its parliamentary representation from one directly elected member to seven and from two proportionally elected members to four. In 2005, Ramkalawan took a sabbatical from his clerical duties in order to devote himself fully to his political life; he considered this time to be a crucial and important point in the country's affairs. However, Ramkalawan lost to James Michel in the 2006 and 2011 presidential elections. Along with other major opposition parties, Ramakalawan and his party boycotted the 2011 parliamentary elections. In the 2015 election, Ramkalawan and Michel advanced to a runoff election, which was the first runoff presidential election in Seychelles. Ramkalawan lost with 49.85% of the vote and a 193 votes difference to his opponent Michel. President In the 2020 presidential election, Ramkalawan defeated incumbent president Danny Faure. According to the election commission, he secured 54.9% of the votes cast. The election marked the first peaceful transfer of power to an opposition since independence in 1976. On 4 November 2020, the additional portfolios of Defence, Legal Affairs, Public Administration, National Planning and National Security were assigned to Ramkalawan. References External links Seychelles National Party 1959 births Living people Presidents of Seychelles Seychellois Anglican priests 20th-century Anglican priests 21st-century Anglican priests Alumni of the University of Birmingham Members of the National Assembly (Seychelles) People from