Seychelles First Presidential Debate – October 9, 2020

Judge Bernardin Renaud and freelance journalist Patsy Canaya were the moderators for the presidential debate held on 9th October 2020, ahead of the October 22-24, 2020 elections. The debate was aired live on the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) television.

Presidential debates serve an important service: they pit all the Presidential candidates against one another and permit the electorate a rare opportunity to see the presidential contenders side by side and take their measure for an extended stretch of time in a high pressure setting.

The debate hit on a number of topics important to voters such as the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment, welfare, schools, drugs and corruption.

Debate watchers were impressed with Mr. St Ange’s performance, saying his performance was “very good”. They were also impressed with his answers and the policies he outlined. Overall, audiences felt that it was a very positive night, sentiment wise for all three candidates.