France Albert René

Early life

René was educated at St Mary's College in Southampton, England, and at King's College London before serving as a lawyer in Seychelles from 1957 to 1961. While abroad, he became heavily involved in the politics of the Labour Party, at the time led by Clement Attlee and later Hugh Gaitskell. These experiences led him to adopt a moderate socialist ideology that favoured some state intervention in the economy and strong ties with conservative forces such as the Roman Catholic Church (René's initial career goal was to join the priesthood). Later Rene denounced local church leaders who criticised his policies. He formed the Seychelles People's United Party (the forerunner to today's Seychelles People's Party) in 1964.

In 1976, he became the country's prime minister under President James Mancham following assembly elections which the SPUP came in second place. On 5 June 1977, partisan supporters of René installed him as president in a coup d'état. After coming to power, René declared that he was not a Soviet-style Communist, but rather an "Indian Ocean socialist." Early on he opposed the Anglo-American military installation on the nearby island of Diego Garcia because of the possible storage of nuclear weapons and alleged detention of terrorist suspects at that location.

Single-party state and coups d'état

René's party was the sole legal political party in the country from 1979 to 1993 which allowed him to win presidential elections in 1979, 1984, and 1989. In 1993, 1998 and 2001, he won against opposition, latterly the candidate of the Seychelles National Party, Wavel Ramkalawan.

In 1979, a planned invasion of Seychelles by supporters of Mancham with the assistance of American diplomatic staff in Kenya and Seychelles was discovered before it could be carried out. An official investigation also implicated France with involvement in the coup.

On 25 November 1981, Seychellois security forces put down a coup attempt sponsored by South Africa. "Mad Mike" Hoare and 43 others posed as members of the "Ancient Order of Froth Blowers", a defunct charitable beer-drinking fraternity, visiting the islands as tourists. Shortly after leaving their Royal Swazi National Airways aircraft, an airport security guard spotted a Kalashnikov assault rifle in their luggage; the discovery launched a gun battle in which hostages were taken. Most of the mercenaries escaped after hijacking another plane sitting on the runway.

An independent inquiry by the United Nations found that South African intelligence was indeed behind the coup; Hoare described the reaction he received from a CIA agent in Pretoria as "extremely timid." However, it is suspected that the United States played a significant direct role in the incident, and there was co-operation at the time between the CIA and the South African government on other issues. Three million dollars were paid to President René and his government by South Africa for the return of the remaining mercenaries detained in Seychelles. The 1981 attempt was the second major threat to his government at that point in time.

Legacy

René has been viewed as a prime example of a benevolent dictator, leading his country to the point of being the most developed country in Africa - as measured by the Human Development Index - and helping build one of the continent's highest gross domestic products per capita. His supporters believe that he had solid social priorities, including his government's extensive funding of education, health care and the environment. Critical indicators such as infant mortality, literacy rate, and economic well-being are among the best in the continent. During his rule, the Seychelles avoided the volatile political climate and underdevelopment in neighbouring island countries such as the Comoros and Madagascar. His critics believe that he and his party are responsible for torture and other human rights abuses involving opponents of the government, allegedly including the death of a prominent dissident in London, Gérard Hoarau. After the 1977 coup, a significant portion of the population (including the deposed President Mancham) fled to the UK and South Africa due to political persecution and fear of the new government's alignment with the Soviet Union, Tanzania and North Korea. René also faced international pressure regarding his government's former requirement that all applicants to the country's secondary education system graduate a compulsory National Youth Service which included traditional curricula, political education and, according to some critics, ideological indoctrination and paramilitary training. This requirement was disbanded after the transition to multiparty rule and the organisation was eventually abolished entirely. Critics of the René regime also call out perceived corruption and cronyism in his term.

On 24 February 2004, René announced that he would be stepping down in favour of Vice-President James Michel. He did so on 14 April 2004. For the time being, he continues as leader of the People's Progressive Front.