Seychelles’ new age election campaign.

The recent presidential election held in Seychelles during the last weekend of July has introduced new ways for candidates to reach the voters.

The traditional use of posters, banner and music still make campaigning a colourful affair in the islands archipelago of the Indian Ocean.

But recently the political parties have increasingly used new technology to make their pitch.

The growing number of mobile phone users and increasing use of the Internet provided the three candidates a new campaign platform. They were busy sending catchy text messages to voters through mobile phones.

The ruling SPPF party and the main opposition party, the SNP both launched their own interactive websites to communicate with their voters.

The sites list the candidates’ political, educational and family background as well as their achievements and that of their parties. Surfers can send their feedback as well as questions, which were answered by them.

Party officials said by using Short Messaging Service (SMS) and e-mail, the candidates can directly target voters who may otherwise be apathetic.

In what was the toughest race for the presidency the country has seen since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in Seychelles in 1992, the campaign forced the parties to examine innovative ways of getting their messages across.

James Michel of the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF) polled 30,119 votes which was 53.73 percent of the total valid votes cast whereas the main opposition candidate, Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles National Party (SNP)/Democratic Party (DP) alliance, collected 25,626 votes or 45.71 percent.

The remaining 314 valid votes went to independent candidate Philippe Boullé for a 0.56 percentage.