HERMINIE MISLEADS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
This week Herminie was seen gloating on SBC TV and heaping self praise upon himself for his research which he claims has revealed that Mauritius, South Africa and the United Kingdom have passed laws which prohibit the setting up of private radio station to people and companies who are “affiliated” to a political party or religious groupings. In his usual bombastic style he intimated that there is nothing wrong with the proposed amendment. In what can be termed a coincidental rebuttal to Herminie’s assertions, BBC television this Friday morning clearly showed a radio station namely “Ramadan Radio” broadcasting in full swing and criticizing Jack Straw for his suggestion that Muslim women should refrain from wearing the full veil which shows only their eyes through slits in their facial cloth.
Ramadan radio is clearly associated with the Muslim faith and they have obviously been permitted to broadcast under a specific law in the U.K. Herminie’s assertion therefore that there are laws in U.K. similar to the one being proposed here which prohibits ownership of a private radio station by political parties and religious groupings is a fallacy.
He was clearly being economical with the truth in an attempt to mislead the National Assembly and the Seychellois public at large. This is how desperate the government was to stop the SNP from obtaining a licence to operate a private radio station. The irony is that when the Broadcasting and Telecommunication Act was introduced no such provision existed and it is only when the SNP expressed their intention to set up a private radio station that the government, in true SPPF style, swiftly moved to curtail the SNP’s plans.
As the Leader of Government Business Herminie’s statements were grossly irresponsible, reckless and misleading. Herminie should lead by example and his conduct and performance in the National Assembly this week is deplorable. The question which begs an answer is since when has the SPPF government implemented the laws and policies of