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Seychelles Steps Toward Independence, 1967-76
Continuous and mounting demands for an increased share
in
running the colony's affairs prompted Britain to enact a
series
of constitutions for Seychelles, each of which granted
important
new concessions. In 1967 Britain extended universal
suffrage to
the colony and established a governing council to run it,
the
majority of whose members for the first time were elected.
That
year almost 18,000 Seychellois voted, and the DP emerged
in
control of the council. In 1970 Britain set up a
ministerial form
of government and gave Seychellois the responsibility to
administer all but external affairs, internal security,
the civil
service, and the government's broadcasting service and
newspaper.
The DP won ten seats, and the SPUP won five in the
Legislative
Assembly. Mancham became the islands' chief minister and
René,
the leader of the opposition.
The opening of an international airport on the east
coast of
Mahé in 1971 improved contact with the outside world.
Before this
most journeys to and from Seychelles had involved long
voyages on
bimonthly steamers running between East Africa and India
and
often required inconvenient transits in Mombasa and
Bombay. Air
service had been available only on a restricted basis at
an
airstrip used by the United States in building a satellite
station on Mahé. The end of the islands' relative
isolation
triggered tourism and concomitant booms in foreign capital
investment and the domestic construction industry. The
construction of the international airport changed the
economy
from a traditional agricultural and fishing one within a
few
years into one where services accounted for the major
portion of
employment and gross domestic product
(GDP--see Glossary).
The
two parties differed on the ways to manage the new tourist
industry and to apportion its benefits. The SPUP favored
controlling the growth of tourism and at the same time
developing
the entire economy, whereas the SDP wanted to stimulate
the rapid
growth of tourism and to establish the islands as an
international financial center.
Independence from Britain was the dominant issue
between the
two parties in the early 1970s, however. The SPUP insisted
on
cutting the colony's ties with Britain, whereas Mancham
argued
for even closer association. But when it became plain that
the
independence issue was popular and Britain showed no
interest in
retaining close relations, the SDP also shifted to a proindependence policy. Moreover, the disfavor with which
African
and Asian nations viewed colonialism had put the SDP into
disrepute in the region. The SDP won the election campaign
in
1974 but the election provoked angry controversy. The SPUP
charged that the results had been rigged; because of the
way
constituencies had been demarcated, the SDP won thirteen
of the
fifteen seats with only 52.4 percent of the vote, lending
credibility to the charges. Thereafter, relations between
the two
parties, already personalized and bitter, worsened
steadily.
Despite their differences, the two parties formed a
coalition
under Mancham to lead Seychelles to independence. Five
members
from each party were added to the Legislative Assembly in
an
attempt to equalize political representation. One year
later,
Britain granted the colony complete independence, and on
June 29,
1976, the Republic of Seychelles became a sovereign
nation, with
Mancham as president and René as vice president. As a
gesture of
goodwill, Britain returned Île Desroches, the Aldabra
Islands,
and the Farquhar Islands. In addition, Britain made a
series of
grants to the new nation to smooth the transition to an
independent economy. Both parties agreed to support the
coalition
government until elections were held in 1979.
Data as of August 1994
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