IS MARIE-ANTOINETTE ROSE OBSSESSED WITH FRANK ELIZABETH?

Marie-Antoinette Rose, the inconsequential and controversial editor of The People, last week unleashed all her pent up sexual frustration in a blistering article on the front page of her paper which ferociously attacked Mr. Frank Elizabeth. In an unprecedented move that has surprised many, Rose unwittingly accused Elizabeth of being a “trickster” and a “chauvinist”. Many people are now asking this rather puzzling question: Is Marie Antoinette Rose obsessed with Frank Elizabeth? The People has, uncharacteristically and incessantly published several articles about Elizabeth ever since he was appointed a member of the National Assembly. Rose’s piece, which was clearly intended to shock, has unnerved many readers. Many people expressed shock, disgust and dismay when Mr. Elizabeth, instead of President Michel, was featured prominently on the front page of the People, yet again, in full gloss and colour. The stark reality is that last week Seychelles celebrated 31 years of Independence and all major newspapers in Seychelles, Nation included, featured Independence Day messages from prominent and distinguished personalities in Seychelles; except, surprise, surprise “The People”. It was ironic that a party which has always claimed, wrongly or rightly, that they were at the forefront of the struggle for Independence, miserably failed to give prominence to the 31st anniversary of this auspicious day in their party paper but chose to splash an extensive nonsensical rubbish about a newly appointed opposition Member of Parliament basking him in a sea of notoriety.

Rose, who has began to show signs of bizarre behaviour ever since Elizabeth walked through the doors of the National Assembly, was said to be seen bouncing around with excitement at Maison du Peuple last week after she had conjured this “masterpiece” which she hoped would cause an unrivalled cataclysmic explosion on the glossy front page of People and increase flagging sales of the paper in the process. Unbeknown to her, she was about to commit one of the biggest and most controversial political “faux pas”, since for the first time ever, the paper failed to carry a front page message from the President of the Republic to the party faithful on the anniversary of our Independence. One SPPF activist in particular was said to be quite miffed, accusing Rose of being “irrational” and “petty”. Instead of promoting the vision of President James Michel and the government’s plan for the future of Seychelles, Rose has allowed her emotion to get the better of her. It is now generally accepted that the People editor has tremendous and unparalleled resources at her disposal and it is inexplicable why she has consistently failed to produce a reasonably credible paper for her party. This has annoyed the SPPF hierarchy who has expressed in private that changes at the People are now urgent and necessary. After considering Percy Ah-mane as a potential candidate to take over the editorship of the paper, Joanna Pierre has been singled out as the favourite. The SPPF leaders have reluctantly concluded that Rose is quite inept and has caused more embarrassment to the party than any of her predecessors. Her credibility as a professional journalist has also been questioned as she has failed to detach herself emotionally from the political task at hand. Surprisingly The People is currently being run only by a gang of four and they are not accountable to anybody. They have adopted the wild, wild west attitude attacking friends and foe at their whims and fancy. One SPPF sympathiser has even accused the gang of four of abusing their position by using the party paper to launch personal vendettas and settle personal scores. Consequently, the newspaper has been subjected to more defamation lawsuits than any other local newspaper; making it liable to millions of rupees in damages. Mr. Frank Elizabeth has filed two such cases recently.    

It is now beyond any doubt that the editor of The People has an unhealthy obsession with Mr. Elizabeth. She has in recent weeks published more articles and anecdotes in her paper about Elizabeth, than any other politician in Seychelles, even more than the Leader of the Opposition or the President of the Republic. Some analysts have remarked that the SPPF genuinely fears Mr. Elizabeth and sees him as a political threat, whereas others are of the view that Rose gives Elizabeth more press in her paper than he really deserves. Thus, the desperate attempts to denigrate disparage and defame him, professionally and politically, in their party paper. It is to be remembered that the same treatment was afforded to Bernard Georges immediately after he joined politics. The Leader of the Opposition, Wavel Ramkalawan, has also not fared any better. It seems that the trend is set to continue for at least the foreseeable future.

However, what has puzzled many this time around is the amount of precious space being devoted to Mr. Elizabeth in People, with four or five articles consistently being published about him weekly. A member of the public, who regularly follows parliamentary debate in the public gallery of the National Assembly, has remarked that Rose’s attraction to Elizabeth may be more amorous than anything else. He has remarked that Rose, consciously or unconsciously, constantly gazes at Elizabeth in the National Assembly and each time Elizabeth looks back at her she would quickly shift her gaze away and blushed embarrassingly.

Rose, who has labeled Elizabeth as a “chauvinist”, is clearly trying to catch the attention of the latter in a way that only Rose can. Her unhealthy obsession with Elizabeth is apparent for all to see and is making a lot of people uneasy. This has even embarrassed members of the SPPF side of the Assembly who have expressed surprise at Rose’s behaviour. Rose, who is normally cool under pressure, has struggled to make her first speech in the National Assembly this time around and only did so last week after being prompted by Weekly, to pull up her socks. She read a carefully prepared speech, albeit with trembling voice, intelligently rebutting the arguments put forward by the opposition in favour of an Independent Electoral Commission as oppose to the office of the Electoral Commissioner. What is undoubtedly apparent though is that the “relationship” between Rose and Elizabeth is one that is more complicated than the straight forward one enjoy by Percy Ah-Mane and Ralph Volcere, which definitely pales in comparison.