JUDGING PRESIDENT JAMES ALIX MICHEL BY HIS ACTIONS!
THE SPPF POLITICAL STRATEGY:
Everything President James Alix Michel has done whilst in office and since his appointment as President by Rene, he has been carefully chosen and geared up towards garnishing more votes for the beleaguered SPPF party. Ever since his now famous “judge me by my actions” inaugural speech on the well trimmed lawn of State House President Michel has made a number of promises targeting different groups in society. How many of these promises have actually been kept? Are we, as a country, better off under President Michel than we were under his predecessor?
THE PROMISES
These are the main promises made by President Michel whilst in office:
1. In a well calculated political strategy designed to get the votes of people in public housing he told masses of people just before the elections that they do not have to pay their outstanding loans on thousands of government’s houses and gave these away as freebies and election inducement.
2. In order to induce the votes of the business community (private sector) he told the local entrepreneurs just before the elections that they are the motor of the economy and they do not have to pay taxes on net profit totaling Rs.250,000 per year from a ceiling of Rs.48,000 previously.
3. In order to get the votes of the youth, he stated in the State of the Nation address that he intends to commission the laying of an undersea fibre optic cable which would connect us directly to
4. Only recently in a move clearly designed to get the teachers’ votes in the forthcoming parliamentary elections he promised each and every one of them laptop computers.
5. Not being averse to the waiting list for public housing which now numbers over 5000 and realizing, like his predecessor, that more government houses mean more votes, he has promised that the construction of a significant number of public housing would be the cornerstone of his presidency.
These in essence are the main promises made by President Michel. The pertinent question that many are now asking is this: Has our lives improved or changed significantly under President Michel than under President Rene?
PROMISES NOT KEPT.
To be fair to President Michel he did do as promised and gave away those government houses although his motive and the cost to our economy leaves a lot to be desired. He also did as promised and changed the tax bracket from a ceiling of Rs.48, 000 to Rs.250, 000. However, the criticism is unless GST is also exempted from the net profit this would not make any significant difference as people who were not paying taxes at all before under the old system (Small Businesses) are now paying as much as Rs.5000 per month tax (GST) on their gross monthly income. The reality is that we are all paying more taxes now than we were before.
President Michel is yet to provide the undersea fibre optic cable and the laptop computers. He is also yet to complete any significant number of government houses as the foreign exchange crisis created by his government has worsened under his presidency turning his well intentioned plans into a nightmarish impossibility.
THE WELFARE STATE
The Welfare State which is the cornerstone and pride and joy of SPPF policy is crumbling and starved of much needed funding. The system is also bogged down by bureaucracy and is failing those who need it the most. These disgruntled non recipients are now turning their backs on the SPPF in droves and are voting for the opposition as elections figures have clearly shown. From an all time high of 60% of the popular votes in the 1993 Presidential elections for the SPPF (Albert Rene) to a mere 53% in the 2006 Presidential elections. (James Michel)
DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
On the issue of democracy and good governance, President James Michel has not fared any better than his predecessor. From the infamous Coup D’etat of 5th June 1977 which was characterized by widespread human rights abuse, mass deportations, illegal arrests and detentions and nationalization of private property without compensation, to the most recent “Black October” incident, it is clear that things have not changed significantly. Without hesitation and before he could catch his breath at the Seychelles International Airport, President Michel applauded the action of the police officers who participated in the violent attack and assault on the Leader of the Opposition and SNP leadership on the precinct of the National Assembly.
Encouraged by the lack of international condemnation and as the diplomatic community here turned a blind eye, President Michel swiftly promoted these rogue officers.
SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY
The National Assembly is the very symbol of democracy and freedom. Therefore, for the President (the moral authority of the country) to applaud the incident was clearly wrong although to be fair to him, President Michel has quickly tried to make amends by calling for an in depth investigation and appointing Judge Reilly to head the Commission of Inquiry. However, as Georges Bush correctly stated when suicide bombers detonated a bomb inside the Iraqi parliament: “This is an attack on democracy.” Similarly the same criticism can be leveled at the perpetuators of the attack of the October 3rd. Tragically; President Robert Mugabe who must have been clearly inspired by events here, in a copy cat move, promptly ordered a similar attack on Morgan Svangarai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, in
PRESIDENT MICHEL’S ACHILLES HEELS-THE ECONOMY
Although President Michel has clearly demonstrated a willingness to abandon the centrally controlled economy which was practiced and implemented with zeal during the one party state era and which is responsible for grinding our once vibrant economy to a halt, there has been no significant change to date. The price control has not been dismantled, the Licensing Act has not been amended, foreign exchange control legislations are still existent and bureaucracy continues to impede business, especially at the
In fact, if he manages to get this problem under control he would be remembered for succeeding where his predecessor had failed. This is a legacy which President Michel is very much aware of and would be hard pressed to ignore. However, what has mystified many experts is why a country like
What is abundantly clear though is the clear fact that there must be something seriously wrong somewhere as the figures just do not add up. Years of economic mismanagement, bad planning, and wastage seem to be taking its toll and many argue that we are now paying a dear price for our past failings. Both President Michel and his beleaguered government seem to be at a loss at what to do next to tackle the foreign exchange problem which just will not go away. He seems to have run out of options, ideas and creativity in his fight to tackle the mother of all economic crises. The current attitude of the present administration is that the problem would go away just as miraculously as it had appeared if left alone and swept under the carpet. The statement by President James Michel challenging his detractors to judge him by his actions, may yet come back to haunt him.
(Contributed)