Majority rule is a means for organizing government

Former dictator Albert Rene standing next to a Tanzanian colonel and surrounded by members of the Seychelles Liberation Army which he created to intimidate the populace.

Within days after the 1977 Coup, Tanzanian troops poured into the Seychelles to bolster the newly established regime of France Albert Rene.  On 5th June, 2007, the country will grieve or celebrate the events of the thirty years gone by. The stage is vastly different from that inherited from the first President of Seychelles, Sir James Richard Mancham.  At his ascendancy to the Office of President the country was financially well-off.  Massive loans and grants had been put together for the development of the nation.  Seychelles international credentials were impeccable and there were no financial skeletons lurking in any cupboards.  Today Mancham can boast of being able to garner audience with the Man of the Century - Nelson Mandela. They share the common message of respect of human rights, meaningful dialogue and adherence to good governance, accountability and transparency.  30 years down the road, who else among the Seychellois top three political elite can acclaim to do so?

In the latest “Address on the State of the Nation”, President James Alix Michel, true to his foot-in-mouth act, made a legal proceeding gaff.  Not that accountability, transparency, and good governance will be tolerated when political expediency calls.  The SPPF lackeys in the Assembly, including the Speaker, accepted this as gospel.  In doing so, they show the short memory span they affect to have.  In his speech, the SPPF appointees in the Judiciary, the Ministry of Health, the Police were raked over live coals for their below par performances.  The act seemed deliberate in that all who were tarred and feathered had no right of reply.

A shot from yesteryear showing James Michel being promoted to army colonel by dictator Rene.

The current President has been in the rough and tumbles of Seychelles politics for the last 40 years and unfortunately shows little good judgment in delivering solutions for the country’s ills – going down the wrong road will never get you to the right destination.  The SPPF is not a miracle cure for Seychelles.  A Government that seriously subscribes to fundamental principles of democracy is the only solution to getting the Seychelles out of the path of the black hole we are heading to.  The fundamentals are the constructive implementation and support of the following principles:

• Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public issues; it is not another road to oppression. Just as no self-appointed group has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.

• Minorities – whether as a result of ethnic background, religious belief, geographic location, income level, or simply as the losers in elections or political debate – enjoy guaranteed basic human rights that no government, and no majority, elected or not, should remove.

• Minorities need to trust that the government will respect and protect their rights and self-identity. Once this is accomplished, such groups can participate in, and contribute fully to their country’s democratic institutions.

•  Among the basic human rights that any democratic government must protect are freedom of speech and expression; freedom of religion and belief; due process and equal protection under the law; and freedom to organize, speak out, dissent, and participate fully in the public life of their society.

• Democracies understand that protecting the rights of minorities to uphold cultural identity, social practices, individual consciences, and religious activities is one of their primary tasks.

(Contributed)

March 30, 2007

Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles