| Seychelles |
| Possibly known to
the Arabs as early as the 9th century AD, the Seychelles were visited by
the Portuguese in 1502. In 1756 France claimed the islands, which were then
uninhabited, and French planters and their slaves settled on them, beginning
in 1768. In 1794 Great Britain annexed the Seychelles. The islands were
administered from Mauritius during most of the 1800s, and in 1903 they were
made a separate British dependency. Political parties, chief of which were the Democratic Party led by James Mancham and the SPFF headed by Albert René, began to form in the 1960s. Their agitation resulted in a new constitution in 1967, and three years later a ministerial form of government was established. By 1974 both major parties were united in calling for independence, although otherwise bitterly antagonistic. When independence was achieved, on June 29, 1976, a coalition republican government was formed, with Mancham as president and René as prime minister. A year later, while Mancham was abroad, SPFF supporters staged a coup and installed René as head of state. In 1978 René declared the country a one-party state, and a new constitution to that effect was proclaimed in 1979. An attempt by South African-based mercenaries to restore Mancham to power was thwarted with Tanzanian help in 1981, and an army mutiny was similarly thwarted in 1982. Several more coup attempts were suppressed in the late 1980s. Seychelles turned toward a multiparty system in 1991. René was elected to a fourth term in 1993 with 59.5 percent of the vote, and the SPFF took control of 28 seats in the Assembly. |
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