Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor

THE PRESIDENT OF ALL THE PEOPLE

Sir - It is not going to be easy for Mr Michel to truly live up to being the President of all the people, for he has been complicit with his predecessor in dividing the people of Seychelles into political affiliations. During the one-party state, those of us who never supported the Seychelles People’s United Party (SPUP) and therefore opposed the coup d’état and the one-party system that was created, were considered enemies of the people, were discriminated against, harassed by agents of the party in power and even imprisoned without trial and sent into exile abroad. Many chose to vote with their feet and left the country. Nearly 10,000 did.

Even after the multiparty system was restored in 1992, and his predecessor, Mr Rene, was elected President under the Constitution, he behaved at all times as if we were still under the one-party state. For example, those who indicate overt support for the SPPF get privileges bestowed by the government – whether in terms of a house, a housing loan, and jobs in the public sector, a licence to do business or even protection against criminal prosecution.

Mr. Michel will have to address all these issues during his term of office. In order to become the president of all the people. Everyone including his children, close relatives and associates must be within the ambit of the rule of law and the legal process of this country. We wish him luck!

(A long-suffering Victim)

Editor’s note: We, here at Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly, see this year, 2007, as a fresh opportunity to reconcile the people of Seychelles. We are banking on President Michel to see this mission through. Without political will this campaign cannot succeed.

We are all equal, but some are more equal than others

Sir, I took advantage of the recent special promotion by Air Seychelles to travel to South Africa to buy a cash machine, among other things, for a new small business venture I am about to undertake. I made the trip because this item, as well as others, is not readily available in the shops in Seychelles. I asked the seller in South Africa to pack the item in a card board box which I checked in together with other items of luggage.

When I collected my luggage upon arrival in Seychelles I noticed that Mr Francis Savy too had an item of luggage packed in a card board box. However, when I reached customs I was selected by the customs officer to have all the items of luggage I had searched in the red channel, but I noticed that Mr Savy just walked out with his trolley without the customs officers batting an eyelid. When I pointed this out to the customs officer searching my luggage I was rudely informed that it was none of my business.

I am writing to the Seychelles Weekly, despite fact that I voted for President Michel in the last election, after I read your article about David and Glenny Savy. I believed Mr Michel when he encouraged us to start our own small business. I believed him when he said he would be working for a new Seychelles where everyone would be treated equally. Yet, I was made to pay R400 duty on my cash machine, despite my pleading, precious capital that’s crucial for a small business that is just starting, while the likes of Francis Savy gets privileged treatment. It appears that nothing will change and that some will be more equal than the rest of us. With the Savy brothers more so.

(Name and address withheld for fear of being refused a retail license).