▁ 1 9 9 4 ▁he ▁became ▁its ▁Secretary - General . ▁ ▁During ▁the ▁rule ▁of ▁President ▁René , ▁Michel ▁was ▁the ▁head ▁of ▁the ▁Se ych ello is ▁economy ▁on ▁several ▁occasions . ▁In ▁these ▁ 2 7 ▁years , ▁the ▁Se ych elles ▁experienced ▁a ▁period ▁of ▁economic ▁growth ▁based ▁on ▁its ▁tour ism ▁and ▁fish ery ▁se ctors , ▁which ▁was ▁followed ▁by ▁st agn ation ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s . ▁Starting ▁from ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁Michel ▁has ▁pres ided ▁over ▁a ▁macro - e conom ic ▁reform ▁program , ▁leading ▁to ▁a ▁massive ▁reduction ▁in ▁budget ▁def ic it ▁and ▁complete ▁liberal ization ▁of ▁foreign ▁exchange ▁transactions . ▁ ▁Michel ▁also ▁played ▁a ▁major ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁country ' s ▁dem ocrat isation ▁process , ▁which ▁started ▁with ▁multi - party ▁elections ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 3 . ▁However , ▁according ▁to ▁the ▁opposition , ▁Se ych elles ▁still ▁suff ers ▁from ▁limited ▁freedom ▁and ▁trans par ency ▁of ▁the ▁press ▁and ▁rig ged ▁election , ▁although ▁all ▁elections ▁held ▁since ▁have ▁been ▁cert ified ▁free ▁and ▁fair ▁by ▁international ▁obser vers . ▁According ▁to ▁official ▁results , ▁President ▁René ▁and ▁his ▁Se ych elles ▁People ' s ▁Progress ive ▁Front ▁party ▁won ▁president ial ▁and ▁legisl ative ▁elections ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁and ▁ 2 0 0 2 ▁respectively , ▁with ▁about ▁ 5 4 % ▁of ▁the ▁vote ▁in ▁both ▁cases . ▁ ▁After ▁ret iring