Freedom At Last by ZONM LIB

FREEDOM AT LAST (By Zonm Lib)

“When you have robbed a man of everything, he is no longer in your power. He is free again.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn- Russian dissident)

What is a man if despite having a roof over his head he has no human dignity? What is a man if he is denied his inherent and inalienable rights to life, freedom and liberty?

In 1998 the SPPF presidential candidate got 66% of the votes. In 2001 he got 54%. What do these figures indicate? Is the “Michel factor” going to reverse that trend?

Therefore no matter what the SPPF does, this is the year when it will be defeated. This realization explains a number of hitherto inexplicable features of the SPPF presidential campaign. Why the politically incorrect green background on James Michel presidential campaign poster? Why broadcast a PPB without a message? Why the hasty opening of an incomplete airport extension?

They (the SPPF) have been sensing defeat for a long time. The PPB finally convinced me that the ruling party really has no idea what the country’s problems are, and since it cannot identify the problems how can it find the solutions? For example, never in our history were our institutions in such utter chaos and anarchy. Inmates at Long Island are all armed and are attacking each other. A foreign prisoner was almost hacked to death in 2002 with a machete. In April 2006 two were stabbed, one in the belly and the other in the hand while trying to stop the attack. The month of May 2006 saw a prisoner admitted to the ICU and allegedly had a kidney and other body parts removed. Last week one more was admitted with serious injuries. If this is not evidence that our institutions have collapsed then what is? No one is in charge of remand prisoners. The Prison Authority passes the buck to the police and the police pass the buck back to the Prison.

Is the prison institution the only dysfunctional institution in Seychelles? The answer is NO! The whole country is in a crisis of unprecedented proportion and this crisis was created by the SPPF. Mr. Boullé was entirely right when he says that every time the government has put a roof over the head of its citizens it also put a noose around his neck. But the noose is not only around the neck of the present generation but also around the neck of at least two future generations because that is how long it’s going to take to pay off our foreign debts.

In Susan George’s book, “A Fate Worse Than Debt” she talks about the numerous ways that a country can become indebted. She says that one of the best and quickest way is by capital flight: i.e taking the money and run. She goes on to explain how it’s done. “First the bank makes a loan. (A consortium of banks made a $150 million loan to Seychelles not long ago) Almost instantaneously, a large proportion of it returns to their coffers as deposits because corrupt government officials may transfer it there directly. National companies, heavy borrowers whose governments have guaranteed their debt, may also feel that the money they were supposed to invest at home will be happier abroad. This capital, which in fact left the debtor countries long ago, will still appear on the banks’ books as loans on which interests is due. The banks are thus paid back twice for a single commitment- first in deposits from borrowers then in interest. Banks and bankers design complex schemes to help their wealthy client ferry money out of their countries; offshore trusts, fake investment companies, parallel foreign-exchange swaps that avoid national banks, back-to-back loans in which the bank “loans” the client his own money.” If this is what is happening to Seychelles will the last one out of the bank please shut the vault? When the day of reckoning arrives corporate anonymity will not shield anyone.

JUDGE ME BY MY ACTIONS

Do we become “enemies” of the State by asking it to render an account of how it has spent our money? One of James Michel’s first promises as President was to abolish “security clearance.” Michel implored the youths to put their trust in him because he is a man of his word; has he abolished security clearance? Is he really not aware of the fact that, it is a tool for victimization? He is the man who asked the Seychellois to judge him by his actions. So let us check his actions in regard to this subject by looking at circular No. 18 of 1985 addressed to “Heads of Parastatal Organisations subject: Termination of Appointment For Security Reasons".

“There are different circumst-ances under which an employee’s appointment may be terminated for security reasons.”

(a) Termination of App-ointment on Grounds of Misconduct

Will apply when an employee commits a specific act of disloyalty against the State e.g. taking part or engaging in anti-Government demonstrations or subversive activities, publicly insulting or criticizing destructively Government, its policies and/or leaders etc. Such acts amount to gross misconduct i.e. disloyalty

In such circumstances, the employee concerned will be informed of the reason for the termination.

(b) Termination of Appoin-tment on Grounds other than Misconduct will apply in the following circumstances

(i) Where an employee had not been vetted by security before his appointment, either because the procedure was not in force at the time or because its organization was previously a private enterprise, and after the necessary vetting the person is not cleared by security.

(ii) Where the nature of the job or location of work changes as a result the security risks involved are increased and the postholder is not considered suitable, for security reasons be retained in that post or to work in the new location.

(iii) Where due to circumstances involving close relatives or connections of an employee he might constitute a security risk.

If possible efforts may be made to redeploy or transfer such persons but where this fails the appointment will be terminated in the interest of the organization. In such cases the persons concerned should not be informed that their appointment is terminated for security reasons

This office will advise the organization concerned after due consultation with the Ministry of Youth & Defence on the course of action to be taken when the appointment of an employee is to be terminated for security reasons, signed, dated 13/05/85 Ref: PPAS/GEN/4” From President’s Office, President’s Private Office Department of Personnel Administration.

How many people have had their jobs terminated “in the interest of the Organisation in the last two years? How many people have been denied a job because they did not get “security clearance”? If Michel wins, how many more will lose their jobs after the election because they will be seen as having “taken part in anti-government demonstrations, publicly insulting or criticising the government, its policies and/or leaders, because such acts amount to gross misconduct i.e disloyalty. It goes without saying that you will never be “informed of the reasons.” How many have been denied citizenship simply because their wives/husbands are alleged to have been “bad mouthing” the government. How many have lost their jobs “due to circumstances involving close relatives or connections of an employee”?

This circular was dated 13th May 1985, we are now in 2006 and the same policies are still in place. Can James Michel ever be his own man? Can James Michel ever break away from his past and past policies? “En leker pour tou Seselwa” Minister Pillay addressed the crowds and said that the JJ spirit is a spirit of love and unity for every Seychellois. A leader who loves his people and cares for their welfare would not have such a policy in place. A leader who wants to unite his people will not victimize 46% of the population simply because they have a different political opinion.

We can allow the SPPF to reinforce its stranglehold over the country or we can refuse. We can submit to the mess we are in or reject it. We can acquiesce to their power over us or we can fight back. One way or another the crisis in Seychelles is symptomatic of a country organized for the benefit of a minority that will stop at nothing to maintain and strengthen its control and its privileges. No one who cares about freedom can afford to be absent from the battle, for we are all on the field. It is our lives and that of our children that is at stake.