- James Michel
Infobox President
name = James Alix Michel
order =President of Seychelles
vicepresident =Joseph Belmont
term_start =16 April 2004
predecessor =France-Albert René
successor =
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|08|16|df=y
birth_place =Mahé, Seychelles
spouse =
party = FPPSColonel (ret.) James Alix Michel (bornAugust 18 ,1944 ) has been the president of theSeychelles sinceApril 16 ,2004 . He had been vice-president to his predecessor,France-Albert René , since 1996. He began as a teacher, but became involved in the archipelago's boomingtourism industry and joined Mr. René's political party before independence in 1976.Mr. Michel followed
President René through different political posts during all periods of the Seychelles' history as an independent entity. He was in the party's central committee when Mr. René staged acoup against the country's first President,James Mancham , only one year after independence. During the 1977-1993 one-partysocialist dictatorship , Mr. Michel held key ruling party and ministerial portfolios.During the rule of President René, Mr. Michel was the head of the Seychellois economy on several occasions. In these 27 years, the Seychelles has experienced an economic boom based on its
tourism and fishery sectors. This, according to the oppositionFact|date=February 2007, has been jeopardised during the last few years due to an accumulatedbudget deficit .The new Seychellois leader also played a role in the country's slow
democratisation process, which started with multi-party elections in 1993. Seychelles however still suffers from limited freedom and transparency of the press and, according to the opposition, rigged elections. According to official results, President René and hisSeychelles People's Progressive Front party won presidential and legislative elections in 2001 and 2002 respectively, with about 54% of the vote in both cases. [ [http://africanelections.tripod.com/sc.html Elections in the Seychelles] , African Elections Database.]Seychelles' opposition leader,
Wavel Ramkalawan , has expressed increased concern over the negative trends in the national economy and demanded more dialogue with the ruling party. The leader of theSeychelles National Party furthermore said that he would be cooperating with President Michel.Michel won the presidential election of July 28–30, 2006, taking 53.7% of the vote. He was sworn in for his new term on
August 1 . [Tanya Salseth-Feau, [http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x=200608021641231EJrehsiF0.4300653 "Seychelles Inaugurates President-Elect James Michel"] , usinfo.state.gov, August 2, 2006.]References
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