Patrick Herminie | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles | |
In office 29 May 2007 –27 September 2016 | |
Preceded by | Francis MacGregor |
Succeeded by | Patrick Pillay |
Personal details | |
Born | 22 September 1963 [1] (Age 60) Baie St. Anne Praslin,Seychelles |
Political party | People's Party |
Spouse | Veronique Herminie |
Children | Martin Herminie,Venessa Herminie |
Alma mater | University of Leeds Charles University,Prague,Czech Republic [1] |
Patrick Herminie (born 22 September 1963) is a Seychellois politician who served as a Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles from 2007 to 2016. He was first elected to the Assembly in 1993 and served as Leader of Government Business from 1998 to 2003. [1] He was a member of the People's Party and plans to run in the 2025 presidential election as the candidate for the United Seychelles Party (USP). [2]
Following the opposition's victory in the September 2016 parliamentary election,Patrick Pillay was elected to succeed Herminie as Speaker of the National Assembly on 27 September 2016. [3]
In October 2023,Herminie was charged by the Seychellois public prosecutor with witchcraft. He denied the charges and described them as politically motivated. [4] In February 2024,the witchcraft accusations were lifted by the Victoria public prosecutor's office. [2]
Patrick Herminie was born in the early hours of 22 September 1963,at Baie St. Anne Praslin Hospital,Seychelles’second biggest island. Born to a local couple,a devoted housewife Christa Herminie (née Christa Jules) and a respected and well liked policeman,Louis Herminie,Patrick was the fourth of five children. [1]
A few years after he was born,Patrick's mother and father,who had been living on Praslin since Mr. Herminie had been posted there for work,moved back to the main land (Mahe) along with their family,where they settled and raised their five children. During this time Patrick's father continued to work as a policeman and his mother,who was once a seamstress,stayed at home to raise their children. [5]
As a young boy Dr. Patrick Herminie attended Seychelles College. Seychelles College,originally an all-boys’school,opened in 1947 and was then seen as the foundation of modern education in Seychelles,together with Regina Mundi Convent for girls. Both schools closed in the early 1980s after the government decided that education would be free and compulsory to all children,who had to attend schools in their respective districts. [1]
At school,Patrick led the Seychelles College-based Schalke04 youth Football team as captain in many competitions. [6]
After completing his O Levels and A levels at Seychelles College,Patrick went on to do his Doctorate in General Medicine at Charles University in Prague,Czechoslovakia,which he completed in 1990. Upon returning from his studies in Czech Republic Patrick met his wife,Veronique Herminie (née Veronique Sinon) in 1991,and they went on to marry and had two children,Venessa Herminie and Martin Herminie. Venessa is presently a medical doctor whereas Martin is a civil engineer. [1]
After completing his Doctorate in General Medicine,he was appointed Medical Officer at Victoria Hospital in 1990. He was promoted to Senior Medical Officer at Victoria Hospital in 1992 and then Director of the Environmental Health Section,Ministry of Health,in 1995. In the same year,he was awarded the Chevening Award by the British government,and he went on to complete his master's degree in Public Health at the Nuffield Institute,University of Leeds in England.
After returning to Seychelles,Dr. Patrick Herminie was appointed Director General of Disease Prevention and Control in the Ministry of Health in 1996. In an effort to continuously improve his knowledge and skills set,Dr. Patrick Herminie has always made it his mission to continuously invest in his studies. In 1997 he attended a Training of Trainers (Epidemic Control) which was held by the World Health Organization [WHO] in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. In 1998 he was appointed Director General of the Division of Primary Health Care in the Ministry of Health. [5]
Between the years 2000 to 2003,Dr. Patrick Herminie was Director General of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health.
In 2004,Dr. Herminie decided to pursue a career as a full-time politician (see political career) but had to temporarily stop in 2016 when nhi party lost the Legislative election. Dr. Herminie was,by then,the Speaker of the National Assembly.
So from 2016 to 2020 he served as Secretary of State for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation. Seychelles was by then faced with an unprecedented epidemics of heroin addiction,Dr. Herminie set-up an Agency to deal with the problem head-on. [1]
Dr. Patrick Herminie's political career began in 1992 when he was appointed Member of the Commission drafting the Constitution of the third Republic. In 1993 he was elected as Member of the National Assembly for English River Constituency,and was furthermore re-elected as Member for the National Assembly for the English River Constituency in 1998 and 2002. [1]
1998- 2007 Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly (Majority Leader)
1998-2010 Member of the Central Committee of the Seychelles People's Progressive Front,the then ruling party.
2003 Re-elected Member of the National Assembly for English River Constituency
2007- 2011 Oct. Speaker of the 4th National Assembly of Seychelles
2011-2016 Sept. Speaker of the 5th National Assembly of Seychelles
2015–2020 National Executive Committee Member for Parti Lepep/ United Seychelles.
On the 31st of January,2021,Dr. Patrick Herminie was elected the Leader of the United Seychelles Party,the main opposition political party.
In 2012 Dr. Patrick Herminie was elected Chairperson of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) (Africa Region),a position he held till 2013.
Between the years 2015 to 2016 Dr. Patrick Herminie was elected as Member of the executive committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum,as well as Chairperson of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) (International).
During his time as speaker of the National Assembly and member of the executive committee of SADC Parliamentary Forum,Dr. Herminie aimed to raise the Assembly's standards to meet international norms,additionally he reinforced the competence of its secretariat for it to better meet the needs of the new parliamentarians. [7]
In 2017 President Danny Faure announced the composition of the Board of the new Agency for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation (APDAR). The Board was headed by Dr. Patrick Herminie as chairperson,he remained the chairperson until 2020. [7]
Seychelles,officially the Republic of Seychelles,is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city,Victoria,is 1,500 kilometres east of mainland Africa. Nearby island countries and territories include the Comoros,Madagascar,Mauritius,and the French overseas departments of Mayotte and Réunion to the south;and Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago to the east. Seychelles is the smallest country in Africa as well as the least populated sovereign African country,with an estimated population of 100,600 in 2022.
United Seychelles is a political party in Seychelles. It publishes a newspaper called The People. It was known as the Seychelles People's Progressive Front until June 2009,when it changed its name to the People's Party. The party changed its name again in November 2018,from the People's Party to United Seychelles.
The unicameral National Assembly is the Seychelles's legislative body.
Parliamentary elections were held in Seychelles from 8 to 10 September 2016. Three parties and three independent candidates ran for the 25 directly-elected seats. The result was a victory for the opposition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa alliance,which won 19 of the 33 seats. It was the first time since the 1979 elections that the People's Party did not win a majority of seats.
Vincent Emmanuel Angelin Meriton is a Seychellois politician who served as the Vice President of Seychelles from 2016 until 2020. He succeeded Danny Faure,and Party president of the People's Party. He once served as Seychelles' Minister for Community Development,Social Affairs and Sports.
Linyon Demokratik Seselwa is a liberal political coalition which has governed since 2016 in the Seychelles. They have 25 seats in the National Assembly. The coalition was originally made up of the four main opposition parties:the Seychelles National Party (SNP) led by Wavel Ramkalawan,the Seychellois Alliance (LS) led by Patrick Pillay,the Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy led by Alexia Amesbury and the Seychelles United Party led by Robert Ernesta. The Seychellois Alliance left the coalition in February 2018 after the resignation of their leader Patrick Pillay as speaker and member of the National Assembly in January 2018.
Cannabis in Seychelles is illegal,with cultivation,possession and sale of the substance banned. Regardless of this,the controlled substance has seen continual use within Seychelles,with statistics indicating that more than a quarter of the nation's population are users of the drug,as well as use evident amongst adolescents. The drug is ingested in a variety of forms for medicinal or recreational use.
Francis Edward MacGregor is a Seychellois judge and politician from Seychelles People's Progressive Front. He served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles from 1993 to 2007,as the first speaker after the 1993 multiparty elections.
Satya Naidu or Sathyanarayanan Sudarsan Naidu is the first Hindu member of Seychelles National Assembly. He is also the youngest Parliamentarian of the 7th National Assembly. He was elected from the St. Louis constituency in the 2020 Seychellois parliamentary election.
Audrey Maryona Vidot is a Seychellois politician and a directly elected member of the National Assembly of Seychelles. A member of the United Seychelles Party,she represents Roche Caiman constituency in the 6th and 7th national assembly.
Churchill Gill is a Seychellois business administrator and politician currently serving as a directly elected member of the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles. He was first elected to the 6th assembly in 2016 on the ticket of United Seychelles Party representing Baie Ste Anne Praslin constituency.
Francois Adelaide is a Seychellois nurse,politician and a directly elected member of the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles representing Baie Lazare constituency on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa party since 2020.
John Hoareau is a Seychellois academic and politician and a directly elected member of the 6th and 7th National Assembly of Seychelles representing Beau Vallon constituency on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) political party.
Kelly Samynadin is a Seychellois teacher and politician currently serving as a directly elected member of the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles from Au Cap constituency on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) political party.
Wilbert Herminie is a Seychellois engineer and politician proportionately elected to the 6th and 7th National Assembly of Seychelles from English River constituency on the ticket of United Seychelles party.
Regina Esparon is a Seychellois nurse and politician directed elected to the 3rd,4th 6th and 7th National Assembly of Seychelles representing Glacis.
Rocky Uranie is a Seychellois teacher and politician directly elected to the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles representing Inner Islands on the ticket of United Seychelles party.
Wavel Woodcock is a Seychellois politician directly elected to the 6th and 7th National Assembly of Seychelles representing Grand Anse Praslin on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party.
Doyace Porice is a Seychellois politician proportionately elected to the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles from St Louis on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party.
Rosie Bistoquet was a Seychellois midwife and politician who served as a proportionately elected member of the 7th National Assembly of Seychelles from Pointe Larue constituency on the ticket of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS). She was director for family health and nutrition and was noted to be the first health professional to develop HIV Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey among female sex workers in Seychelles,Angola and Mauritius.