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Bishop Denis Wiehe – the Catholic Bishop of Port Victoria has warned that the political intolerance and lack of respect of different political opinions is leading our country towards a fanaticism of ideology. The Bishop was speaking during a sermon last Sunday morning at the church of St Michel, at Anse Aux Pins on the occasion of Pentecost.

This state of mind, the Bishop said, will make us blind to the truth. We will lose our freedom to know the truth, and this will lead us easily to violence. As if to defy the Bishop, the former President Albert Rene spent a large part of his speech at the SPPF rally in the same afternoon character assassinating the leaders of the opposition parties. He reserved his most vile and scathing remarks for the new DP leader, Paul Chow, who Mr Rene characterised as an enemy of the people during the one-party state for keeping the flame of democracy alive in Seychelles from his exile home in London.

As if on cue in defiance of the Bishop’s remarks, Minister Danny Faure, who holds the constitutional title of Designated Minister, emulated his party leader and expanded on the glorification of violence. A designated minister is expected to take over the reigns of government should both the President and Vice-President be incapacitated or die.

In his remarks, Faure praised President Michel for his “courage” to take up arms to overthrow the democratic constitution of the newly independent Seychelles on 5^th June 1977. If necessary, Michel will do so again he claimed ominously. In 1977 Danny Faure was still in his teens. For his further education he was sent to communist Cuba by Rene where he learnt political indoctrination. Upon his return he was posted at the NYS village to teach political education – the euphemism for Marxist indoctrination.

The Bishop’s remarks come amid growing fears that the leaders of the SPPF are adopting a political version of a scorched earth policy in an anticipation of a major electoral defeat in the presidential contest. In a democratic society, an election defeat is not the end of the world, since elections have to be held every five years. President Alan Garcia – who lost a re-election contest over a decade ago, has been re-elected to office once again as the President of Peru just this week.

Observers believe that there is a feeling within the SPPF leadership that defeat will signal the beginning of the collapse of the party as it is currently constituted, based on a Marxist-Leninist structure. SPPF was created in 1978 by Rene after the coup d’état as a communist organisation to promote a communist society. But despite the advent of multiparty and the culture of political contest, the leadership of the party continues to appoint all office bearers – as a means to stifle dissent within the party.

The current leadership, under Rene, is synonymous with the party. Rank and file does not have a say who gets elevated or which policies the party should adopt. Everyone is appointed by Rene. Any policy position is preached from the top, not derived out of consultation with the rank and file. Connection with the rank and file is through “political education” by hand picked party officials.

SPPF maintains its base and party allegiance only through government handouts and patronage and the fear of losing them. In addition to the 11,000 people employed by the government and the 5,000 or so in the parastatals, a large number of people – perhaps as many as 10,000 - receive some form of state hand out. Late last year, President Michel announced, out of the blue, that government would give huge discounts to those who had obtained a government loan to buy a government built house after his “consultation” with the people revealed widespread dissatisfaction with his government’s economic policies.

SPPF has also been accused of exacting support through political blackmail. A number of outspoken opposition persons who had their business tax reviewed suddenly had their photos in the party newspaper - The People- alongside scathing remarks about their “previous” party affiliations or singing the praise of Mr Michel. Others have had criminal or other cases against them kept in abeyance in return for openly supporting the SPPF presidential candidate. Many whose business licenses were coming up for renewal were blackmailed to appear in party political broadcasts praising Rene. Promise of a loan from the Development Bank (DBS) for a taxi or other potentially lucrative contracts from the government or a parastatal are conditional on being seen at the SPPF rally in a red t-shirt or appearing on its party political broadcast.

It does not stop there. Being seen at an opposition rally can also mean a business license is suddenly refused or a visit from a price controller who will lay a criminal charge if the price quoted is one cent above the stipulated control price. Price control is one more instrument Rene has used as a form of political blackmail.

The fear of violence either before or after the election expressed by Bishop Denis Wiehe last Sunday is not an exaggeration. It is a very legitimate and real one that should concern us all. This newspaper has learnt that before breaking up a meeting of his senior police and other security officers last Friday, the Commissioner of Police, Andre Kilindo made a cryptic remark about being born of fire. “I remember when SPUP lost the decisive 1974 elections to the DP, parts of Mahe were set on fire” one of the older officers present ruminated, “which is what came to my mind after I left the meeting”

A climate of fear and retribution if any party wins or loses the presidential election has suddenly reappeared since the last SPPF rally. This presidential election contest is being presented to SPPF supporters as a winner takes all contest – as if a President Ramkalawan will govern forever without re-election.

The intolerance practiced by the SPPF politicians towards their opponents is making many “blind to the truth”, about our elective democracy – that governments come and go. There is no shame in political defeat nor glorification for the winner. The purpose of being in politics, in a democracy, is to serve all the people and the whole country not to service oneself or just the party rank and file with privileges.

Sadly, the culture inculcated within the SPPF and by extension the whole country, since the coup d’etat of 1977 is “come and join us and help yourself.” That is why there is this intolerance and fear of political defeat. That is why Mr Rene was desperately trying to convince his diminishing rank and file, last Sunday, that all those politicians in the other parties are just political vultures waiting to pick up the dead flesh of their party to help themselves and their rank and file to the loot. Combined with the marked decline in living standards and the increase in absolute poverty due to a rapidly declining economy, the message of intolerance finds fertile ground for violence.

Bishop Denis Wiehe has set the scene. We look forward to seeing other religious leaders do their bit. We need, perhaps, to adopt the concept of a national prayer breakfast – as was organised in Kenya two weeks a go – with all the political and religious leaders openly being seen praying together and spending time together at a retreat (e.g. Plantation Club). This will serve to send a strong message of tolerance and the acceptance of the divergence of views to the whole country.

More than ever those who have the welfare of our country at heart must stand together and stand firm. We must commit ourselves to rebuilding a culture of tolerance, transparency and good governance. That is the future we must promise the people above the cacophony and the din and clatter of the politics of intolerance and violence being promoted by Albert Rene.

His is the lost world – ours is the new world.