Written by a friend and citizen of Seychelles - a patriot who is tired of seeing his people being taken down the same route as many large and developed countries have had the misfortune to witness happening in modern times.
1. THE PRESIDENTIAL AND LEGISLATIVE elections of Seychelles took place on 22/3/98 with the ruling PPF party sweeping back into power with an overwhelming majority of 30 seats in the Seychelles National Assembly; the United Opposition obtained 3 seats and the Democratic party 1 seat.
2. The observers from the Commonwealth Secretariat and of the Mission Co-operation de La Francophonie made the usual attendance at the election to supervise the 'freeness and fairness' of the election. At best these bodies could only make a superficial assessment of what took place leading up to and during the election and no doubt their reports will reveal accordingly. Their conclusions will probably point to one or two areas of abuse by the ruling party but ultimately conclude that the elections were free and fair. Unfortunately the Seychelles public will never hear of the conclusions or they will hear what they are programmed to hear and nothing more. More details are necessary if post dictatorship regimes are not to thrive under the guise of 'pseudo democratic' states. It is very convenient for large established states to see only the peace, harmony and stability in a state which is environmentally, religiously and temperamentally relaxed by nature without looking at the moral cost and the effects of giving a clean bill of health to a party which has in effect stolen away the peoples power to exercise the gift of free will. Even now after a heavily one sided election the ruling party is about to close its talons further over the democratic spirit which has risen to a level of uncomfortable popularity for their liking.
3. First it is worth looking back five years at the recommendations of the observers - who attended the first democratic elections of Seychelles following 16 years of one party dictatorship. These among others included removing the SPPF identity from the District Administration offices and making them more impartial and independent, making the media more independent, changing the National Flag, and various other matters involving the de linking of the SPPF party to Government facilities and benefits.
4. What we find five years later are district administration offices fully staffed by SPPF personnel. The heads of each office are fully fledged SPPF supporters several of whom stand for the legislative assembly elections and represent themselves as the persons who are responsible for all progress in the district. None of these district administration offices were ever publicised as available posts. The posts were simply filled by the SPPF with their own personnel. The SPPF has in several districts constructed party offices right next to district administration office which has meant an easily identifiable connection for local inhabitants that any assistance given is given by the SPPF party. At the recent election all community centers and District Administration offices without exception were decorated with SPPF symbols and pictures. Even the new National flag which was made subject of a National competition was finally a decision of the SPPF party which overruled a joint party committee decision on the best flag for the country. The SPPF colours still represents the Seychelles bus service, petrol stations, the National Airline and - more importantly for the SPPF - the Seychelles Marketing Board (S.M.B.) There is now a new animal called an S.M.B. franchise retail shop in nearly all districts which bear the SPPF colours and which sell mainly S.M.B. items for special concessions from the monopoly giant.
5. The housing and land registration statistics reveal that shortly prior to each election the number of public housing corporation loans given multiplies to an excessive extent with loans given in the 1993 elections being given at rates of interest of from 3% to 1% in cases. With an SPPF official now running the land Registry (after the previous Registrar was replaced due to his affiliations with the opposition parties) it is obvious that such matters are given top priority in the normal running of the Registry. The National Assembly member for Anse Etoile District is also the Managing Director of the State Housing Corporation, the Government Bank which gives loans to build properties, the Development Bank of Seychelles and the Seychelles Savings Bank. With housing as a major issue in our country this gives the SPPF a significant advantage even if the schemes are funded by external organisations. Merchants and shopkeepers wanting to expand their establishments see this man as their ally and colleague.
6. This control coupled with a program of house and flat building and redistribution of the SPPF. population to different districts have helped in changing the voting statistics of Seychelles; one only has to look at the overwhelming victory of the new Roche Caiman Estate District.
7. In terms of money for the elections we all in Seychelles have seen the large quantity dished out by the SPPF as if we were the richest country in the world. Where did all this money come from? After the return to "democracy" Mr. Rene made sure of his ground by privatising all money making parastatals in the hands of his one or two chosen persons. No parastatals were ever advertised or tendered for public subscription. Printec Press Holdings Ltd. for example, the monopoly Government printer, was simply given to a party stalwart with an income from Government alone at R3 Million per annum in 1993 (US$600,000) not counting all the other business it handles each year which includes printing the only daily national paper, the telephone book and most periodicals circulating around the country and a general monopoly over general stationary commodities. The same went for National Travel Agency (the Government parastatal travel agency), Kingsgate House (a 3 storey building in a prime location in Victoria), Space Computers (the Government Parastatal for computers in Seychelles), Union Lighterage Company (the Government Stevedoring parastatal). Party faithfuls also enjoy overriding monopolies in housing construction essentials which are not imported, all large government building contracts are given to one company (a company run by a Government Minister), casino and gambling houses belong exclusively to SPPF stalwarts. The biggest SPPF machine and much criticised by foreign experts is the import and wholesale monopoly giant. This was recently subject of a critical article in the Economist magazine which described it as a main pillar to the SPPF hold on power and without which the party would quickly lose most of its power and control over the people of Seychelles.
8. The major device used by Albert Rene in keeping an iron hand over the mostly semi illiterate population is to play on our local traditions and to transform them to suit his plans. This is reinforced by his control of the media. One yearly attraction is on the occasion of the birthday of the great leader where a large number of old persons are invited to his private birthday party where they are wined and dined and finally publicly told how much he (now modified to 'we') is/are going to give them in the coming year as an increment on their pensions. This is before any discussions in the National Assembly take place on the matter. The elderly are deliberately led to believe that their pensions come directly from the pocket of F.A. Rene. This hold over the less fortunate members of our society is carried through via a scheme of 'Means Testing' just around election time where state resources and finances are openly used to buy votes.
9. Not being satisfied with these the ruling party has sent out discrete letters in one or two cases prior to the elections requesting financial assistance for the party cause from foreign investors who reside or have interests in Seychelles and/or who await a decision or a planning permission from Government or the courts.
10. The question of mismanagement of funds by the administration is a constant complaint of the Auditor General which is simply ignored every year by a National Assembly controlled by SPPF 'Yes men'. Complaints made to the Assembly about Ministerial abuse of power by the Ombudsman are never discussed. Such points are seen as a trivial interference with the running of the country. Several top civil servants are deeply involved in conflicting business ventures which are incompatible with their posts including the Commissioner of Taxes who has interests in the import and sale of tinned beer and goods from Singapore being the main Seychelles agent for a Singapore merchant. The Principal Secretary of Finance is involved inter-alia in diving and other businesses and his dwelling at Le Cap expands by the month from what was once a humble abode to a sprawling complex of buildings. One asks the question would the Commissioner of taxes ever look into his own bank account and that of the Principal Secretary of Finance for Tax purposes? All these support the ruling party as it supports their activities..
11. On the question of the courts there are too many rumours to mention. The more frequent is the Chief Justice being visited by interested parties to cases and matters being surprisingly speeded up or being decided in favour of one of the SPPF ruling party members or their family or more commonly their secretaries; often such decisions are made ex parte. One could ask how Mr. Rene could choose a junior lawyer and SPPF Executive Committee member to head the Constitutional Appointments Authority which recruits the Supreme Court Judges where the Constitution speaks of 'a politically impartial person of high integrity', as the person who should chair such an authority. Even the integrity and impartiality of the Court of Appeal is being questioned with 3 line decisions which do not in some cases reflect the actual decision reached when the judgement is given some months or years later. In one instance in a matter against Government the Court of Appeal at the hearing told the non Government lawyer to sit down as they had already decided in his favour. Many months later when the judgement was sent to Seychelles the court had found in favour of the Government.
The courts have also developed the reputation for giving large awards of damages against the Opposition and its newspapers for home truths published about high ranking officials in Seychelles. The home truths being known to all Seychellois but not surprisingly to the judges. The approach is to look at the strict letter of the law but not at the strict well known facts of the actual events which are known to everybody but the judges. It seems constitutional cases are now famous for embodying nothing more than the concept of a 'Waste of time'. The few lawyers that have tried to struggle through the maze of constitutional law in a country based on a system of dictatorial rule have now reached a stage of disillusionment. In short our body of constitutional law as developed by the courts have not gone beyond the starting line.
12. Concerning the Outer Islands there is the lovely Island of Silhouette where a certain state of paradise exists, where electricity, water and certain necessities such as housing, is free - these few thousand people who live and work there will never own their own property under the present system but in their cloistered environment they do not know better and will always accept Mr. Rene and the SPPF as their life and support system. On the equally beautiful Island of La Digue (Mr. Blair please note) there are two kings who rule over the spoils of acquired properties (including the house that Mr. Blair stayed in) for which no compensation has been paid. Not surprisingly one king is the President who so treats the place as his that even the British press published this nonsense. These two employ and indoctrinate over 80% of the workers there. These two Islands are only examples of all outer Island environments where the idea of 'delinking' will not exist for many years to come. Particularly due to the information allowed to flow to these places by the SPPF controlled S.M.B. Radio.
13. The biggest item of controversy in Seychelles apart from finance appears to be the state controlled media (S.B.C.) where the SPPF party has complete control - at the recent elections a blatant lie by the SPPF vice President led the Electoral Commissioner to make an application to S.B.C. to correct the lie. 'The chairman of S.B.C. a party faithful (who has since been promoted) refused the application.
14. The lie told by the Vice President (actually the minister of Finance who conveniently forgets particular figures when it suits him) was made on the last party political broadcast to the effect that each party received campaign money in the sum of R4 Million each, and that his party had simply better utilised their funds. In fact under the law the SPPF did actually receive a monthly amount in 1997 which in total amounted to R4 million. The United Opposition share came to an annual total of R720,000/-. The Chief Electoral officer has confirmed that no parties received any campaign money for the 1998 Elections.
15. During the election period nearly every other program which came on, particularly sports and entertainment, were advertised as being brought to us by S.M.B. (whose colours by no coincidence are those of the SPPF party; the Seychelles sportsman of the year was used to advertise S.M.B. products. On both occasions shortly before the elections the Seychellois T.V. and radio population were force fed with horrific and depressing reports of Somalia, Sarajevo, soup kitchens of Iraq, Bosnian atrocities, middle east turmoil, etc. ..... just to show us how well off we were here. Third parties please note for many of us life is like solitary confinement where we are scared even of our own shadows.
16. What the observers had a chance to observe at the last elections were the blatant measures taken by the SPPF party to buy votes by giving people money, food and drink in abundance to the extent that it became so public that it had to be stopped. Even after these poor people had voted him back in power Mr. Rene criticised them because word about the giving of money got out to people who should not have known about it. The crowds of people who lined up outside Unity House for money simply became too public due to the blatant SPPF policy at these elections to openly buy votes in any way possible; particularly in this case using the office of the Ministry of Employment. What the observers did not see was the other donations which included house building materials, fridges, TVs, etc.....
17. Unfortunately this was not all that happened. Opposition candidates were approached with offers of money and jobs to not stand or to vote in a particular manner; some received direct threats to their jobs or contracts to not stand as candidates. Some voters who had put their names to opposition party candidates nomination forms were traced and spoken to by SPPF officials before the election and some even threatened with serious consequences if they voted for the opposition. The usual introduction of additional bus services to small side roads and to remote areas just before the elections happened once more. Parties in SPPF offices right next door to district administration offices and even in such offices where drinks flowed freely were a constant sight during the election period.
18. Mr. Rene's health has been a cause for concern over the last few years and being the main enigma and the 'Kim il Sung' image behind the SPPF party, (as portrayed in the huge poster paintings at Maison du Peuple Building at the last elections) his party has already changed the constitution to make less room for proportionally elected members. The flavour of these last elections has been one of 'overkill' where Mr. Rene desperately wanted an almost one party style success to the extent that all the stops were pulled out to win and with the appointment of several new ministers he obviously intends to keep a strong buffer between the opposition and any scent of power or voice to the people. He often says and said it again at this years elections "Seychelles is SPPF and SPPF is Seychelles". He uses phrases about joining his boat (to convince his supporters not unlike Mr. Jim Jones of Guyana once did). Unfortunately Democracy is not about everybody gleefully sailing along in the same boat and foreign observers should take careful note of this style of fanaticism cloaked in a docile exterior.
19. In the past five years Mr. Rene's regime has made a thorough job of clearing out all opposition sympathisers from top level government public posts only to fill them with SPPF sympathisers. Even the main town of Victoria has had a mayor out of the SPPF ranks appointed by Mr. Rene and not elected. This has succeeded in reinforcing the image particularly to the illiterate population that every activity of the Seychellois depends on SPPF benevolence.
20. Businessmen with Government contracts or foreigners who have recently returned with applications such as for sanctions to purchase Seychellois land or applications for business licences are led to believe by members of the ruling party that they can expedite such applications by their contacts in power. The Chairman of the Constitutional rarely loses a case before the Supreme Court Judges. This state of affairs caused many people to vote for continuity in the hope of getting an advantage from the ruling elite.
21. A constant theme of the SPPF is to use Cuba trained doctors or professionals as examples of the success of the SPPF in developing its professional class. Several of these (in a country lacking in professional staff) are members of the National Assembly. Every one of the SPPF National Assembly members apart from the ones Rene has handed parastatals on a plate, also the two lawyers to whom all new investors are referred to at first by the authorities in the Finance Ministry and the other member to whom all major Government contracts are given for his building contracting business, nearly all are (or were 5 years ago) government officers. In the last assembly two SPPF members of the National Assembly went away on long (probably overseas funded) courses in excess of one year while being members of the Assembly yet still they could come on T.V. in these elections to show all they had done in the district.
22. The 'Malo Affair' (where Seychelles sold arms seized on a passing ship to Rwandan Rebels) became quite notorious in Seychelles around the time of the slaughtering of hundreds of thousands of civilians in that war. Many arms it appears never left Seychelles and every now and again one hears about shooting incidents involving those arms. The carrying of arms by National Guardsmen and Drug Squad officers is a common sight these days. With marijuana and cannabis being the main excuse, Drug Squad Police officers invade plantations spreading fear and intimidation, chopping up banana and paw-paw trees, pulling out casava plants indiscriminately and firing shots up in the air when their authority is questioned. Police officers who rely on the support of the judges ignore the judges rules without conscience or anxiety since they know the court will protect them. The whole philosophy of ignorance and the potential use of arms shows the last option for the SPPF in the event of the possibility of losing an election. Even at this last election, arms were used on unarmed civilians at Cascade District.
23. Chief Anyakou of the Commonwealth Secretariat has always publicly praised Seychelles for its peaceful transition to Democracy. The Chief should be educated to the fact that transition is only peaceful due to a docile people with no tribal or serious religious differences. There is no credit to the ruling party for maintaining peace; our country has always been a model of peace prior to SPPF rule. The danger is if SPPF lost power then we would be thrown back into the dark ages of civil disturbance and confrontation - this is no reason to praise the peaceful aspects of present day Seychelles and to encourage Mr. Rene and his underhand tactics just to maintain what is purely a veneer of perfect peace and harmony. People still live in fear of victimisation and security for their person and their job. Before the last elections many top civil servants were put on contract and once their political colour was known shortly after the elections they were removed on the basis that their contracts were not being renewed and for no other reason. The courts have generally supported the Government actions paying only lip service to constitutional rights. The Chief Justice even went so far as to make a public declaration that the famous 'Mafia' E D A Act of 1997 was a good law for Seychelles. Chief A, the fact that the Jews went peacefully to their deaths in the gas chambers does not mean that democracy was at its best at the time when the trams ran on tune and the economy flourished.
24. It is time for the observer countries to take more interest and to look at and support a new Seychelles now with the rightful opposition in the Assembly and in place, an opposition with not only youth, intellect and drive on its side but also experience and optimism compared to the weak conciliatory opposition of the last five years led by Mr. James Mancham who received substantial money and property benefits from the ruling party in return for keeping a firm buffer between the SPPF and the legitimate opposition confusing the people to stay with the strong and dictatorial rather than go with a confused and divided opposition. It should be repeated - the time has come for observing countries with the power, experience and know-how to seriously reassess its position towards the ruling party and to truly help Seychelles with its democratic developments.
25. The United Opposition often labelled as a party of extremists and the creators of discord should now be recognised as the legitimate party expressing the wish of the dissenting minority of Seychelles. In fact this is the first time since the re introduction of democracy in Seychelles that the voice of the dissenting minority (38.16% of persons who voted at the last elections) will be heard since Mr. Mancham never really expressed any views of significance during his five year term as leader of the opposition. The overwhelming defeat of the Democratic party is pure evidence of this fact. The United Opposition has been labelled extremist and this image has been fitted on this party like the fabled 'iron mask' story. In reality where the only motion of note raised by the ex leader of the opposition in five years which most people remember is for an annual turtle race to encourage our tourism; this stinks more of eccentric extremism than any item for change raised by the United Opposition. For the outside worlds knowledge and experience the United Oppositions' adoption of the colour green at the last election should not be identified with green radical elements in the developed world, though it would not exclude these if necessary (for the good of the country) but represents the true democratic spirit of the country; a party which respects human dignity, self respect, free speech and moral courage to persevere with the betterance of all Seychellois lives regardless of colour, creed, race or sex or (political belief).
26. Now that the United Opposition, a true opposition it should be repeated, has gained access to the National assembly possibly to face the most illiterate SPPF majority since pre Democracy days, the S.B.C. are already putting forward a proposal to delete live National Assembly debates (which have been televised for the past five years) and to just put on Montages of Assembly members speaking and voting as an edited news item. It is arguably a step to nullify any further incursions into power since it was plain to see that in most debates the United Oppositions sole member in the Assembly outdebated the majority party members by leaps and bounds. The only matters to be televised will be the Ministers question time when questions will be notified in advance and each Minister will be backed by his main Departmental heads for answers. The second measure taken by the SPPF ruling party whose majority of National Assembly members are associated with district administrations and many are employed in such posts is to stop directly elected members to use the facilities of the District Administration offices to meet the people. This is seen as a blatant move to block the United Opposition directly elected candidate to be identified in any way with the District office of St. Louis, his constituency. The District administration offices are the heart of the SPPF propaganda machine and lukewarm reports by the Commonwealth and other bodies will do nothing to balance the playing field. The type of reports one reads only reveal the small oversights on the SPPF overkill machine for absolute power which can easily be plugged up or ignored come the next elections.
Signed: An Do
Actual name withheld due to fear!
April 1998
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