In Christopher Gill's recent article on STAR Seychelles, www.starseychelles.blogspot.com, he states that it is time Seychelles belongs to Seychellois and a number of different Sechellois types are listed and categorized as being good or bad. The two main types of Seselwa Gill describes in his article are:
Seselwa Rasin: Seychellois who were Seychelles citizens on June 29th 1976
Seselwa Fabrike: Seychelles citizens who were fabricated by the SPPF's selling of passports for cash(France Albert Rene called it 'investing in Seychelles' through the EDA).
Gill states clearly, and I must say that he does have some good points, that the Seselwa Fabrike are in many ways first class citizens as they can often enjoy immunity, no need for security clearance and/or have other priveleges that the Seselwa Rasin do not. I can clearly see Gill's, and others', rage when one could see the likes of Ramadoss who arrived in Seychelles wearing rags and sandals but soon got a place under the wing of the former prezident France Albert Rene and with those priveleges is now amongst the country's richest men. People like Radovan Krejcir, another Seselwa Fabrike, could enjoy the good life in Seychelles and despite being caught with firearms in his private home, no pursue was ever made. The latter however ended up being too much of an embarrassment to the government(who in the end had to get rid of Krejcir after he shut his funding tap). The article does indeed have many good points both about the mentioned and others, amongst them Arabs building huge mansions at La Misère, Siva wanting to build his own little country at Coetivy, a state within our own state, and not least the numerous other Seselwa Fabrike we've been abused by in the course of history after Rene introduced his own convenient laws and allowed such practice since June 1977.
Seselwa Derasine
Gill speaks of 'Sesel Pou Seselwa', Seychelles for Seychellois a fairly nationalistic statement in the eyes of another type of Seychellois like myself: Seselwa Derasine. There must be about 30.000 Seselwa Derasine in the world and we all have one thing in common, namely the fact that we are all born Seychellois or could once be defined as Seselwa Rasin, i.e Root Seychellois, but later in life got de-rooted by moving abroad. Our roots are with us, but no longer in Seychellois soil. The opposition has since their loss in the first election after the re-introduction of the multi-party system, been argueing to give Seselwa Derasine the right to vote from abroad, this in hope of gaining votes to their advantage. Wether or not it would help I strongly doubt and personally I am totally against voting from abroad unless it applies returning students or Seychellois working on contracts on behalf of the government or of firms from home. Else I believe the costs of organizing such would be too much to bear on an already strained economy.
Seselwa Replante
Annother type of Seychellois Gill forgot to mention about in his article is the same type of Seychellois that he himself is. Seselwa Replante is a Seselwa Derasine who has returned home looking for his/her roots and therefore once again in Seychelles soil. I wouldn't quite classify a returning student as Seselwa Replante, but a person like Gill who spent many years of his childhood abroad, in his case USA and the Islands of Guam, is indeed a Seselwa Replante. The advantage of Gill is that he knows what it is like to be a foreigner in a country and despite being an American he was still a mere foreigner there although the USA is a good palce for most foreigners. Seselwa Derasine are often encouraged to become Replante and as recently as last year the opposition was encouraging the Derasines to return home to build up the country. Even today, the governemnt is aiming to replace expats with Seselwa. Rasin, Derasine and even Replante.
In addition to those defined by Gill, and now myself, there are numerous types of Seselwa that need to be characterized. Amonsgt those are:
Seselwa Enporte
These are Seychelles citizens who have become so through marriage with Seychellois and includes brides from India to Seychelles born shop owner sons, Cubans and other nationals who returned to Seychelles with Seychellois students who developed a taste for hot Latin blood, IOT brides from Thailand who have married Seselwa Rasin twice their age and stayed and last, but not least simply Western nationals married to Seselwa Rasin, Derasine and Replante that have settled in Seychelles. I believe even Nation has a journalist that is Seselwa Enporte, a former East European national. Correct me if I'm wrong. If I myself was to return home my wife would be an Enporte.
Seselwa Plante
Our Minster of Finance, Danny Faure, is a good definition of a Seselwa Plante. He is born abroad, in Uganda, bur grew up more or less in Seychelles, hence was planted here while his roots were still young and has since grown in Seychelles soils. He is not the only example as many Seychellois came home as toddlers after being born and spending their forst years abroad only to be brought back home and planted in our soil. As far as I'm concerned a Seselwa plante is just as much as any Seychellois as long as his or her soul is in Seychelles serving the country and society like any Seychellois.
Nationalism can be a good thing, but characterizing nationals into different grades and treating them differently is as dangerous and incorrect as racism. I fully agree with Gill that the present government has done a lot of bad deeds regarding giving foreign nationals advantages that even our most loyal nationals can dream of, but one has to be very careful when characterizing non-Seychellois born citizens.
I disagree with the fact that one becomes 'Seychellois' after obtaining a Seychelles passport as being Seychellois is a bit more than holding a brown book saying you are one. Being Seychellois can be characterized as being loyal and faithful to the country and doing one's best to achieve the best for it. Being Seychellois will by some be defined as having the Creole Spirit, i.e being a lazy, womanizing drunk in the weekdays and a loyal churchgoer on Sundays whilst by others the definition may be as simple as being born of Seychellois parents.
Not easy at all, but it is however vital that we under no circumstances grade our citizens based on their 'Seselwa Class' becasue then we have done the exact same thing that Christopher Gill is accusing the government of doing.
Patrick X - a Seselwa Derasine
Jan 23, 2010
Jan 19, 2010
SNP - Ready for the future?
In a recent article in Regar dated January 15th 2010, Wavel Ramkalawan claims that SNP is ready for the future. In the article he writes that SNP has to be ready to make the future best for everyone and that the SNP has to be agents for real change.
According to Ramkalawan, SNP has always shown that Seychelles is constantly under its microscope and that is the reason why they have been able to present 'solid proposals for the development of the country'. He also says that 'What is good for Seychelles is good for the SNP'. I can sincerely believe that SNP has had Seychelles under its microscope as the party has absolutely no general overview of the country and teh ongoings as it has focused entirely on a microscopic part of it.
What part of Seychelles they have had under the microscope however there is no mention of, but a critic like myself would say that the SNP has been focusing one thing: keeping Ramkalawan as leader of the opposition. I can also as a critic say that the SNP has truly lived by the words 'what is good for Seychelles is good for SNP, as since the last election the SNP has done absolutely nothing whatsoever to promote themselves, hence unpromote the PL, and therefore get a true shot at gaining power in the coming election. They have in other woprds truly accepted that PL is good enough for Seychelles, hence good enough for the SNP.
The article claims that the SNP has withing the forst 15 days of 2010 already proved that they are relvant and effective as a political party by issuing a phampet saying that PUC's increase of prices was wrong. The SNP even went further to suggest bringing the subject up in a constitutional court case to challenge the decision. We continuously hear that the ministery of finance is useless at, yes, finance, but now I am also beginnign to think that the SNP lacks knowledge and competency in finance. One of the SNP's main fights in the past has been privatisation, free competition and not least less state control. Now that the PUC is being managed by a private firm and is no longer subsidized as bedfore, the SNP finds it wrong that is is to be run as a business instead of a non-profit organization. What do they want? I fully understand the frustration of the people who now have to pay more for PUC's services, but it is after a side effect of what we asked for is it not?
One good thing I was pelased to read about in the article is that Ramkalawan states clearly that the SNP does not only work to win elections. I couldn't agree more as he finally has admitted that he is not interested in winning any election, merely stay as a bystander and accept whatever is 'good for Seychelles', meaning whatever the majority votes for, i.e the PL. I'd think that a party who wants the best for the country would be able to deliver the best if they were in power. Obviously that does not apply for the SNP who is not interested in winning the coming elections.
Ramkalawan states that the SBC does not take the SNP seriously and cuts them short each time they do something. I must say tat to be able to deserve live time on SBC one must actually do and achieve something. Last year for instance James Michel and the PL held consultative meetings in the various districts. Those meetings gave the SNP a gleaming opportunity to participate amongst the people and challenge the PL delegation hosting them, an opportunity to speak and be heard. SNP's leader did not attend a single one of those meetings and paved the way for Michel to space for himself in the political spotlight.
The LOP says that the SNP is ready to face the challenges in assembly where they will not be given the same chance to present their views as the PL will and hence end up on SBC. To that I can agree with Ramkalawan that the SBC is controlled by the PL and will favour PL's views as any partial media organ will show loyalty and favourism to its party. The same applies for Nation as it does to Regar and Seychelles Weekly. One would think wether or not this kind of unfair system would encourage and motivate a party leader to leads its flock so that they can get in power and end the unfairness they so complain about. Question is: would the SNP do any different if they were in power?
Ramkalawan says in the article's final chapter that (quote)
'The SNP is ready to keep fighting hard for the people of Seychelles, using its meagre resources to do its utmost. We are determined to see change in our land. We will never give up the struggle to give our people a normal life. We will be by their side all through the year. In other words, I am saying to everyone that the SNP is ready for the future. We will turn those challenges into real opportunities for our people. May everyone rise and join us in this commitment to bring the.....'
Bring the what? The article ends with a 'the' and I ask myself how on earth one can take Regar let alone Ramkalawan seriously if they cannot even be bothered to perform a quality assurance check of their own writings in their own newspaper? As to being devoted to giving the Seychellois a normal life I truly believe Ramkalawan will do his uttermost to give them just a normal life while he has anything but a normal life in plan for himself.
But saying that the SNP is ready for the future is I'm afraid perhaps the biggest exaggeration so far this year. Since their defeat in the last election SNP has not been ready let alone prepared foe anything and are certainly not prepared for the future. It is a mere year left before the coming election's campaigning starts for full and nothing has been done on the part of the SNP. PL has held consultative meetings, created the Jj Spirit amongst other propaganda tools. What has SNP done to counter-balance the PL's campaigning? The answer is I'm afraid not fit for public viewing.
And they claim to be ready for the future? They havn't been ready in the recent past, are still not ready for the present and are most certainly not even prepared for the future.
Patrick X
According to Ramkalawan, SNP has always shown that Seychelles is constantly under its microscope and that is the reason why they have been able to present 'solid proposals for the development of the country'. He also says that 'What is good for Seychelles is good for the SNP'. I can sincerely believe that SNP has had Seychelles under its microscope as the party has absolutely no general overview of the country and teh ongoings as it has focused entirely on a microscopic part of it.
What part of Seychelles they have had under the microscope however there is no mention of, but a critic like myself would say that the SNP has been focusing one thing: keeping Ramkalawan as leader of the opposition. I can also as a critic say that the SNP has truly lived by the words 'what is good for Seychelles is good for SNP, as since the last election the SNP has done absolutely nothing whatsoever to promote themselves, hence unpromote the PL, and therefore get a true shot at gaining power in the coming election. They have in other woprds truly accepted that PL is good enough for Seychelles, hence good enough for the SNP.
The article claims that the SNP has withing the forst 15 days of 2010 already proved that they are relvant and effective as a political party by issuing a phampet saying that PUC's increase of prices was wrong. The SNP even went further to suggest bringing the subject up in a constitutional court case to challenge the decision. We continuously hear that the ministery of finance is useless at, yes, finance, but now I am also beginnign to think that the SNP lacks knowledge and competency in finance. One of the SNP's main fights in the past has been privatisation, free competition and not least less state control. Now that the PUC is being managed by a private firm and is no longer subsidized as bedfore, the SNP finds it wrong that is is to be run as a business instead of a non-profit organization. What do they want? I fully understand the frustration of the people who now have to pay more for PUC's services, but it is after a side effect of what we asked for is it not?
One good thing I was pelased to read about in the article is that Ramkalawan states clearly that the SNP does not only work to win elections. I couldn't agree more as he finally has admitted that he is not interested in winning any election, merely stay as a bystander and accept whatever is 'good for Seychelles', meaning whatever the majority votes for, i.e the PL. I'd think that a party who wants the best for the country would be able to deliver the best if they were in power. Obviously that does not apply for the SNP who is not interested in winning the coming elections.
Ramkalawan states that the SBC does not take the SNP seriously and cuts them short each time they do something. I must say tat to be able to deserve live time on SBC one must actually do and achieve something. Last year for instance James Michel and the PL held consultative meetings in the various districts. Those meetings gave the SNP a gleaming opportunity to participate amongst the people and challenge the PL delegation hosting them, an opportunity to speak and be heard. SNP's leader did not attend a single one of those meetings and paved the way for Michel to space for himself in the political spotlight.
The LOP says that the SNP is ready to face the challenges in assembly where they will not be given the same chance to present their views as the PL will and hence end up on SBC. To that I can agree with Ramkalawan that the SBC is controlled by the PL and will favour PL's views as any partial media organ will show loyalty and favourism to its party. The same applies for Nation as it does to Regar and Seychelles Weekly. One would think wether or not this kind of unfair system would encourage and motivate a party leader to leads its flock so that they can get in power and end the unfairness they so complain about. Question is: would the SNP do any different if they were in power?
Ramkalawan says in the article's final chapter that (quote)
'The SNP is ready to keep fighting hard for the people of Seychelles, using its meagre resources to do its utmost. We are determined to see change in our land. We will never give up the struggle to give our people a normal life. We will be by their side all through the year. In other words, I am saying to everyone that the SNP is ready for the future. We will turn those challenges into real opportunities for our people. May everyone rise and join us in this commitment to bring the.....'
Bring the what? The article ends with a 'the' and I ask myself how on earth one can take Regar let alone Ramkalawan seriously if they cannot even be bothered to perform a quality assurance check of their own writings in their own newspaper? As to being devoted to giving the Seychellois a normal life I truly believe Ramkalawan will do his uttermost to give them just a normal life while he has anything but a normal life in plan for himself.
But saying that the SNP is ready for the future is I'm afraid perhaps the biggest exaggeration so far this year. Since their defeat in the last election SNP has not been ready let alone prepared foe anything and are certainly not prepared for the future. It is a mere year left before the coming election's campaigning starts for full and nothing has been done on the part of the SNP. PL has held consultative meetings, created the Jj Spirit amongst other propaganda tools. What has SNP done to counter-balance the PL's campaigning? The answer is I'm afraid not fit for public viewing.
And they claim to be ready for the future? They havn't been ready in the recent past, are still not ready for the present and are most certainly not even prepared for the future.
Patrick X
Jan 15, 2010
Seychelles, unique by a thousand bribes
A recent report by the Auditor General where investigations were done on the SPDF accounts revealed unorthodox practices that point in the direction of gross corruption within our armed forces, our foremost protector that these days are battling Somali Pirates at sea and protecting ourt outer islands. The same force seems to have quite a bit of its own pirate activity going on within its own ranks. Lack of documentation accounting for how and why SPDF funds have been used to buy buildings materials and electrical supplies without any building activity within the force has raised certain suspicions. An officer has also been recieving salary despite leaving the force and no longer being on the payroll list. Other cases were discovered, cases that could not be accounted for in addition to suspicions regarding conflicts of interest. Our army, SPDF, has in other words also joined the trend of corruption within the public sector.
Not so long ago, the Krejcir saga proved that corruption was evident within our Department of Immigration where an authentic false passport was issued to the Czech fugitive who already had a legally obtained Seychellois passport. With new identity, Jules Egbert Savy, all on a passport issued by Immigration through an officer who later got suspended, Krejcir left Seychelles and flew to South Africa via Madagascar, but was arrested upon arrival there where he seeked asylum and has stayed there since. The loss of Krejcir as a citizen with priveleged rights was convenient for the then SPPF government who no longer had use for his services(read: money), but an embarrasment caused by a scandal within immigration was quickly hushed down when the alledged corrupt officer was suspended from his job after many years of service, but no legal charges were made against him nor anyone else in immigration. The officer himself claims that he was used as a scape goat as the orders of making the 'authentic false' passport for J.E. Savy came from higher up in the ranks.
Our police force is another department of public service that has been cursed by corruption. The previous Chief Of Police, Waye Hive, resigned suddenly like lightning on a clear day and has kept a low profile ever since. Rumours say that one of the reasons why he resigned was that he was forced to do so by someone 'higher up' after failing to deal with criminals in his own family, more precisely his brother who is a known and reputated druglord in Seychelles. Several officers have also been reported to have been suspended from their positions, but none of the cases have been followed up by the media since the announcement.
Reports by a blogger claim that corruption has even reached our Health & Welfare system where the morgue in Victoria has become a good source of income for its workers each time a deceased is kept refrigerated whilst for example waiting for relatives living abroad to arrive for the burial. Refrigeration is free the first few days, but a price of SR 1000 is charged every suceeding day. Upon leave the workers are known to 'offer' a discount where the family(or the funeral agent) pays for a number of days whilst the books say the deceased was refrigerated for only one or two days. Refrigeration for up to a week or more is not uncommon for the dead with relatives travelling from far so such cases give a nice little earner for the workers, infact a good month's salary each time.
The list of corrupted offices, departments and ministeries goes on never seeming to take an end, but few are willing to talk about it let alone deal with it. With that, questions can be raised as to how corrupt we are as a nation at whole. If indeed corruption has reached our health and welfare system, would it be unfair to say that this corruption exists because we, the users and clients of these services, participate actively in keeping the wheel turning? A saying says 'no smoke without a fire', I say 'no fire without wood' and as long as wood is kept on being thrown on the fire it will keep on burning.
James Michel and his government has through the IMF been forced to take actions against corruption nad has to a certain extent shaken the tree and rotten apples have fallen down. Michel's problem now is not gatting an apple in the head, but rather straight in the face so shaking too hard can prove to be taboo, but shake too little and the IMF may end up shaking him instead. A difficult choice between two evils indeed and if falling rotten apples in the face is bad enough, falling snakes from the same tree could indeed do more harm to him. All happening in the Garden of Eden, unique by a thousand bribes.
Patrick X
E-mail: patrick_x@live.co.uk
Not so long ago, the Krejcir saga proved that corruption was evident within our Department of Immigration where an authentic false passport was issued to the Czech fugitive who already had a legally obtained Seychellois passport. With new identity, Jules Egbert Savy, all on a passport issued by Immigration through an officer who later got suspended, Krejcir left Seychelles and flew to South Africa via Madagascar, but was arrested upon arrival there where he seeked asylum and has stayed there since. The loss of Krejcir as a citizen with priveleged rights was convenient for the then SPPF government who no longer had use for his services(read: money), but an embarrasment caused by a scandal within immigration was quickly hushed down when the alledged corrupt officer was suspended from his job after many years of service, but no legal charges were made against him nor anyone else in immigration. The officer himself claims that he was used as a scape goat as the orders of making the 'authentic false' passport for J.E. Savy came from higher up in the ranks.
Our police force is another department of public service that has been cursed by corruption. The previous Chief Of Police, Waye Hive, resigned suddenly like lightning on a clear day and has kept a low profile ever since. Rumours say that one of the reasons why he resigned was that he was forced to do so by someone 'higher up' after failing to deal with criminals in his own family, more precisely his brother who is a known and reputated druglord in Seychelles. Several officers have also been reported to have been suspended from their positions, but none of the cases have been followed up by the media since the announcement.
Reports by a blogger claim that corruption has even reached our Health & Welfare system where the morgue in Victoria has become a good source of income for its workers each time a deceased is kept refrigerated whilst for example waiting for relatives living abroad to arrive for the burial. Refrigeration is free the first few days, but a price of SR 1000 is charged every suceeding day. Upon leave the workers are known to 'offer' a discount where the family(or the funeral agent) pays for a number of days whilst the books say the deceased was refrigerated for only one or two days. Refrigeration for up to a week or more is not uncommon for the dead with relatives travelling from far so such cases give a nice little earner for the workers, infact a good month's salary each time.
The list of corrupted offices, departments and ministeries goes on never seeming to take an end, but few are willing to talk about it let alone deal with it. With that, questions can be raised as to how corrupt we are as a nation at whole. If indeed corruption has reached our health and welfare system, would it be unfair to say that this corruption exists because we, the users and clients of these services, participate actively in keeping the wheel turning? A saying says 'no smoke without a fire', I say 'no fire without wood' and as long as wood is kept on being thrown on the fire it will keep on burning.
James Michel and his government has through the IMF been forced to take actions against corruption nad has to a certain extent shaken the tree and rotten apples have fallen down. Michel's problem now is not gatting an apple in the head, but rather straight in the face so shaking too hard can prove to be taboo, but shake too little and the IMF may end up shaking him instead. A difficult choice between two evils indeed and if falling rotten apples in the face is bad enough, falling snakes from the same tree could indeed do more harm to him. All happening in the Garden of Eden, unique by a thousand bribes.
Patrick X
E-mail: patrick_x@live.co.uk
Jan 7, 2010
The thin line between coalition and collision
There is a lot of speculation and some say will to form a coalition government in Seychelles. There is talk about a United Opposition forming an alliance with the sole purpose of removing the PL from power in 2011. Some also speculate in a new party being formed as well as the termination of the SNP as we know it today. Regardless of the differences between speculation, will and reality I believe that we will soon face an interesting political development in the months to come and up to the 2011 prezidential election.
The opposition has had a hard time winning elections since the re-introduction of the multi-party system and reaching their goal of taking power over from the SPPF/PL although gettting as much as 46% of the votes in the last election. Why is that so and why has there not been a coalition government? Well, the main reason is that Seychelles has basically never had more than two parties big enough to be able to form an alliance that has enough majority to overthrow the party with most votes. In recent elections our voters have had the choice between two parties, namely SPPF(PL) and SNP as the third alternative DP refrained from participating. As we know the last election gave the SPPF/PL majority leaving the opposition as powerless bystanders.
So what's the remedy to 'kick the PL ou' as many put it? Kicking the PL out is in theory simple, but requires a bit of devotion and determination from all other parties who want to give James Michel and his party the boot. First of all, the voters must be given multiple options, not merely a dual option. A dual option often gives the choice of two evils, especially in teh case of Seychelles where the voters are fairly split. You are either pro SPPF/PL or con and if you are con then whoever the other option is will get your vote despite the option being just as bad, i.e a lot of Seychellois vote in pure despite of the happenings of June 5th 1977. Back in '76 people were either for Mancham or for Rene, today they are either for Rene or against Rene as he is still seen to be the one in charge and the PL exploits that to its extent.
What will a worthy multiple choice do in an election? First of all, people will no longer have the choice of the evil that they know and the evil they do not know and instead have an additional choice which canfirst of all be a magnet to votes that are in doubt in addition to a sign of hope and change. A new alternative to PL and SNP can represent a positive change in Seychelles especially for those who feel they have been struggling the last 15 or so years. A third altenative will naturally have the potential to steal votes from both PL and SNP, hence reducing the PL's majority from let's say 54% to maybe 48% or lower which is an achievement enough to topple the PL dominance in Seychelles politics. All a third party needs in order to remove the PL is to gain slightly more than 4% of the votes, this based on the last election's figures. 4%, that's all! Then what?
If the PL are reduced to 49% popularity that means that the other participating parties have a majority of votes and can form a coalition and finally 'kick the PL out' according to plan. A coalition will leave the PL as minority and a new coalition government can be formed. However, having majority is one thing, but having majority as part of a coalition can easily lead to collision. The mutual objectives of non PL-ism may well be to get rid of the PL, but running a country, even one as small as Seychelles, can prove to be harder than expected, let alone forming such a government.
It would be natural for the biggest part of the coalition to get the prezidentila post, but conflicts in interest, conflicts of opinion and not least the strong Seychellois character regarding the ongoings of the past can easily lead to fighting behind the wheel and a certain route to collision. I would therefore strongly recommend that before an eventual United Opposition gets together to 'kick out PL', other mutual goals and most important of all disagreements are settled, agreed upon and a crystal clear set of rules of cooperation are written before any attempt is made to form a coalition.
Another thing that is important to bear in mind is the fact that a coalition government in Seychelles does not necessarily have to consist of for instance SNP+DP. It can just as well consist of PL+SNP or PL+DP. By having an open mind, we should realize that even politicians sometimes have to make the choice between two evils, not just the voters.
Patrick X
E-mail: patrick_x@live.co.uk
The opposition has had a hard time winning elections since the re-introduction of the multi-party system and reaching their goal of taking power over from the SPPF/PL although gettting as much as 46% of the votes in the last election. Why is that so and why has there not been a coalition government? Well, the main reason is that Seychelles has basically never had more than two parties big enough to be able to form an alliance that has enough majority to overthrow the party with most votes. In recent elections our voters have had the choice between two parties, namely SPPF(PL) and SNP as the third alternative DP refrained from participating. As we know the last election gave the SPPF/PL majority leaving the opposition as powerless bystanders.
So what's the remedy to 'kick the PL ou' as many put it? Kicking the PL out is in theory simple, but requires a bit of devotion and determination from all other parties who want to give James Michel and his party the boot. First of all, the voters must be given multiple options, not merely a dual option. A dual option often gives the choice of two evils, especially in teh case of Seychelles where the voters are fairly split. You are either pro SPPF/PL or con and if you are con then whoever the other option is will get your vote despite the option being just as bad, i.e a lot of Seychellois vote in pure despite of the happenings of June 5th 1977. Back in '76 people were either for Mancham or for Rene, today they are either for Rene or against Rene as he is still seen to be the one in charge and the PL exploits that to its extent.
What will a worthy multiple choice do in an election? First of all, people will no longer have the choice of the evil that they know and the evil they do not know and instead have an additional choice which canfirst of all be a magnet to votes that are in doubt in addition to a sign of hope and change. A new alternative to PL and SNP can represent a positive change in Seychelles especially for those who feel they have been struggling the last 15 or so years. A third altenative will naturally have the potential to steal votes from both PL and SNP, hence reducing the PL's majority from let's say 54% to maybe 48% or lower which is an achievement enough to topple the PL dominance in Seychelles politics. All a third party needs in order to remove the PL is to gain slightly more than 4% of the votes, this based on the last election's figures. 4%, that's all! Then what?
If the PL are reduced to 49% popularity that means that the other participating parties have a majority of votes and can form a coalition and finally 'kick the PL out' according to plan. A coalition will leave the PL as minority and a new coalition government can be formed. However, having majority is one thing, but having majority as part of a coalition can easily lead to collision. The mutual objectives of non PL-ism may well be to get rid of the PL, but running a country, even one as small as Seychelles, can prove to be harder than expected, let alone forming such a government.
It would be natural for the biggest part of the coalition to get the prezidentila post, but conflicts in interest, conflicts of opinion and not least the strong Seychellois character regarding the ongoings of the past can easily lead to fighting behind the wheel and a certain route to collision. I would therefore strongly recommend that before an eventual United Opposition gets together to 'kick out PL', other mutual goals and most important of all disagreements are settled, agreed upon and a crystal clear set of rules of cooperation are written before any attempt is made to form a coalition.
Another thing that is important to bear in mind is the fact that a coalition government in Seychelles does not necessarily have to consist of for instance SNP+DP. It can just as well consist of PL+SNP or PL+DP. By having an open mind, we should realize that even politicians sometimes have to make the choice between two evils, not just the voters.
Patrick X
E-mail: patrick_x@live.co.uk
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