THE WEST HAS LET THE PEOPLE OF
The British ruled these islands until 29th June 1976. In the years leading up to self-government the British introduced us to the way of doing things legally, as well as in general a good administration of the government. Our judicial system is built on the British model of dispensing justice. The health service and our education system were all based on the British system. The ‘BBC’ world of broadcasting became the medium by which we viewed the world. We were told that all things ‘West’ was good and that the ‘East’ was all propaganda and bad for the world. Communism was evil and must be discouraged at all levels, ideology or in any other forms. This in short was what we were fed consistently and made to believe.
Thirty years after the Union Jack was pulled down for the last time on this land as the National flag, this country’s democracy beyond what it was on the first day of autonomy. The so-called western civilized countries, the British, the American, the French and others all played a part in our present dilemmas – In fact they have contributed a great deal towards making our democracy what it is today - imaginary. The British moved away from these shores on the 30th of June 1976 and has hardly taken a glance back in anger at the evolving situation. The diplomatic bond over the years has been one of self interest. The well- being of the local population, it seems, has never been of concern to the ‘Empire’. The power that is can kill all the Seychellois it wants so long as it refrained from touching the citizens of the kingdom; their actions woul go unchallenged by our former colonial masters. This is where Robert Mugabe went wrong.
The Americans, known for their great belief in freedom, truth and democracy for their own people, have come and gone. During the one-party-state era the Americans enjoyed at least publicly, and there is no evidence to prove otherwise, a most cordial and pleasant relationship with the dictatorship in
The French? What can we say about the country that gave us our beautiful lingo and influenced enormously our ethnicity? A lot, in fact, starting with the fact that they were the first ‘Western’ country to recognise the illegal regime of the 5th June, 1977, and they have not looked back since. Their local representative overtly favours the party in government. We thought the man was here to watch over the interest of ‘Champs Elysées’ – it is more like ‘‘Champs Elysées’ watching over the interest of the local tormentors.
Like it or not this is the hard reality of the last thirty years. The Seychellois people have been badly let down by the so-called democratic free world. We need to fight our own fight and to forget about getting any help from our freedom loving friends. They are too busy protecting their interests to worry about ours. That is why the coming National Assembly elections are so important and crucial in the furtherance of democratic practises in