Patrick Herminie

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">Patrick Herminie was born on 22 September 1963 in Baie
Sainte Anne, on the island of Praslin in the Seychelles archipelago.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">Herminie entered politics in the early 1990s. In 1992,
he was appointed a member of the commission tasked with drafting the
Constitution of the Third Republic of Seychelles. In 1993, he was first elected
to the National Assembly, representing the English River constituency, and was
re-elected in subsequent elections (1998, 2002). From 1998 to 2003, he served
as Leader of Government Business (Majority Leader) in the Assembly. In May
2007, Herminie was elected Speaker of the National Assembly, a position he held
until September 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">After leaving the speakership in 2016, Herminie
remained active in public affairs. He was appointed in 2017 as chairperson of
the Agency for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (APDAR), a body
addressing the rising challenge of drug abuse in Seychelles.&nbsp; In February 2021, he was elected as leader of
the United Seychelles Party (the main opposition party).&nbsp; In June 2024, United Seychelles officially
nominated him as its candidate in the 2025 presidential election. In the first
round of the 2025 election, he led with about 48.8% of the vote, narrowly ahead
of incumbent President Ramkalawan, which pushed the contest into a runoff. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:
&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">Herminie’s political career has not been without
controversy. In October 2023, he was charged by the Seychelles public
prosecutor in a high-profile case involving allegations of “witchcraft” and
“unnatural and superstitious acts.”&nbsp;
Herminie denied the charges, calling them politically motivated; in
February 2024, the Victoria public prosecutor’s office dropped all charges
against him. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>

<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:Aptos;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:
EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">As he heads into the
runoff, his campaign emphasises reform, combating corruption, reducing cost-of-living
pressures, and restoring public trust in institutions.</span></p>