EDITORIAL
THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF OUR INTERNAL TURMOIL
SINCE the Presidential election in July, President James Michel has made international politics a priority of his Government. He has rubbed shoulders with world leaders such as President Jacques Chirac and other Francophone leaders in Bucharest, Romania, and prayed by the side of His Holiness, the Pope at the Vatican. Last week he went on a grand visit to China. Looking at him on the world stage, one would almost think of him as an angel from paradise.
However, as the President forges ahead to promote his international image, he has turned his back on the fact that Seychelles is a profoundly divided nation with close to 50% of the population emotionally and politically deeply wounded. There is a conviction among the Opposition that if ‘fair-play’ was the order of the day, it would almost have been able to claim majority support. Even by utilizing official figures, the Opposition enjoys a minimum support of 46% of the electorate.
This paper has consistently called upon President Michel to follow the road towards National Reconciliation and to give effect to the wishes of our two Bishops for National Unity. Even if he won a majority (a position which is not universally accepted by the opposition), President Michel must realize that in a democracy there cannot be a situation where the winner takes all.
There has been no serious outreach on the part of State House to bring about a “rapprochement” between the two antagonistic camps. Instead, we saw a sad and unfortunate situation of the Leader of the Opposition and one of his associates being savagely beaten up within the precinct of the National Assembly by the police. The photographs of the two victims which we reproduced in this paper have stirred the emotion of all peace-loving citizens. Nobody can accept that there was a need for such barbaric attack on the two prominent personalities of the Opposition, given the fact that these people were not a threat to security, peace or law and order.
The arrival in the country of a former Police Officer from Ireland to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances leading to these attacks will provide an additional international dimension to our internal turmoil. Who is this gentleman? Was he appointed in consultation with the Opposition parties? What are his credentials? It is certainly not transparent as to where President Michel found him nor indeed who recommended him. We have also not been told what consideration has been offered to this gentleman. Radix Malorum es Cupiditas.
WE TOO CAN INFLUENCE CHINA
President Michel is now back from an official visit to China as well as attending the China- Africa Forum. Among the other heads of states who gathered in Beijing last week were some of the most notorious abusers of human rights. Although the human rights situation in our country is fragile, it is not anywhere close to what is taking place in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabawe or Omar al-Bashir’s Sudan.
In China itself human rights do not exist. China is governed by a communist party which has a monopoly of political power just as the Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF) once was. Indeed the SPPF and the Chinese Communist Party are fraternal parties. Officials of each party visit each other and exchange fraternal greetings. China’s official stand is that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. But when the Communist Party of China gives material help to the SPPF, it is tantamount to interference. When the Government of China provides money to our government to build houses which are utilised by SPPF to win political support, it is tantamount to interference. But if China were to build our roads, or a dam or develop our port these would benefit everyone regardless of political adherence.
The Seychelles is predominantly a Catholic country. The freedom to practice religion in our country is guaranteed by the constitution. In China it isn’t. Catholics, as all religions in China, are just tolerated. Catholics in China are not allowed to owe their allegiance to the Vatican just as we can. Those who defy the official line are often imprisoned without trial.
It is good that we have formal diplomatic relations with China and benefit from Chinese economic aid and trade. We must also, however, impress upon China that it must respect human rights and more particularly allow Catholics the right to practice their religion as we in Seychelles do.
