biography
| name: |
René, France-Albert
|
pronunciation:
[ruhnay]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1935– )
|
| biography:
| Seychelles statesman and president (1977– ). He studied in the Seychelles, Switzerland, and London, and was called to the bar in 1957. On returning to the Seychelles, he threw himself into politics, establishing the Seychelles People's United Party, a Socialist grouping, in 1964. In 1970 he pressed for full independence for the Seychelles, and became prime minister in a coalition with president James Mancham. While Mancham was abroad, René staged a coup, made himself president, and created a one-party state. Since then he has followed a non-nuclear policy of non-alignment, and resisted several attempts to remove him. In the early 1990s a multi-party system was introduced, and he won further terms as president in 1993, 1998, and 2001. |
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