Seychelles will head to a rerun presidential election after no candidate secured an outright majority in the first round. Official results released Sunday show opposition leader Patrick Herminie with 48.8 percent of the vote, just ahead of incumbent President Wavel Ramkalawan on 46.4 percent. A candidate must secure more than 50 percent to win outright.

Herminie, representing the United Seychelles party that governed the country from 1977 to 2020, is seeking a comeback after a five-year absence from power. President Ramkalawan, running for a second term under his Linyon Demokratik Seselwa party, campaigned on economic recovery, social development, and environmental sustainability. The electoral commission has yet to announce a date for the runoff.

Voting took place over two days, with early ballots cast on Thursday and the majority of citizens voting on Saturday.

The 115-island Indian Ocean nation, long associated with luxury tourism and environmental conservation, remains one of Africa’s wealthiest countries by GDP per capita, according to the World Bank.