Wavel Ramkalawan

Wavel Ramkalawan (born 15 March 1961) is a Seychellois politician and Anglican priest who served as the 5th President of Seychelles from 2020 to 2025. Ramkalawan was an opposition MP from 1993 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. On 25 October 2020, Ramkalawan won the presidential election, the country's first such victory for an opposition candidate since independence, marking its first successful peaceful transition of power. On 11 October 2025, he lost his reelection bid for a second term to Patrick Herminie, a member of the United Seychelles Party.

== Early life ==

Wavel Ramkalawan was born in 1961 in Mahé, the principal island of Seychelles. He was born into a modest family, the youngest of three children. His great-grandfather was from Bihar, India. His father was a tinsmith while his mother was a teacher. Ramkalawan's primary and secondary education were at Seychelles College, the elite boys' school of the country. Ramkalawan was ordained as a priest in 1985 following theological studies at St Paul's Theological College, Mauritius, and thereafter followed further studies in theology at Birmingham University...