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James Alix Michel (born 1944) has been the president of the Seychelles since April 14, 2004. He succeeded France-Albert René, and had previously been his vice-president since 1996. He began as a teacher, but became involved in the archipelago's booming tourism industry and joined Mr René's political party before independence in 1976.
In fact, he has followed President René in different political posts through all the different periods of the Seychelles' independent history. He was in the party's central committee when Mr René staged a coup against the country's first President, James Mancham, only one year after independence. During the 1977-93 one-party socialist dictatorship, Mr Michel held key ruling party and ministerial portfolios.
During the rule of President René, James Michel was the head of the Seychellois economy on several occasions. In these 27 years, the Seychelles has experienced an economic boom based on its tourism and fisheries sectors. This, according to the opposition, has however been jeopardised during the last few years due to an accumulated budget deficit.
The new Seychellois leader also played a role in the country's slow democratisation process, which started with multi-party elections in 1993. Seychelles however still suffers from limited press freedom and transparency and, according to the opposition, rigged elections. According to official results, President René and his Seychelles People's Progressive Front party only narrowly won the last presidential (2001) and legislative (2002) elections.
Seychelles' opposition leader, Wavel Ramkalawan, has expressed increased concern over the negative trends in the national economy and demanded more dialogue with the ruling party. The leader of the centrist Seychelles National Party furthermore said that he would be cooperating with President Michel.
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