Ralph Volcere Silenced?

Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly may well have made its last appearance on our news stands last week as yet another publishing house has been forced to stop printing it. People who do not know the local sensationalist newspaper may say its unfair, but those who know the man behind le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly; the very same Ralph Volcere will  agree that it is more a case of good riddance to bad rubbish. When Printec Press Holdings Pty Ltd (PPH) decided in August this year to stop printing the Seychelles Weekly, the reason was simple. Printec’s new management was working on a new structure for the company. Even if PPH may have had other motives for discounting the printing of the newspaper it would have been justified seeing that not a single copy of the publication appeared without slanderous article about the owner of the said company, Dr. V. Ramadoss.

In his last Press conference as editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly, Ralph Volcere blamed PPH new management for refusing to continue printing the paper going as far as to attribute this change of heart to the political connections PPH has. Ironically three months later. Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly has been informed by Regar Printing Ltd to make alternative arrangements for printing as they believe that the newspaper is publishing “false statements and offensive remarks” in relation to the Seychelles National Party.

Regar Printing Ltd issued the ultimatum to its then client on the 28th of November, through a letter stating “whilst we accepted to print the Weekly in support of freedom of expression and the work of the opposition, we cannot accept to continue in the position of assisting to publish lies and insults about ourselves.”

Prior to the letter, the Managing Director of Regar Printing Ltd, Mr. Roger Mancienne had a telephone conversation with the Editor of Weekly Mr. Ralph Volcere whereby Mr. Volcere assured Mr. Mancienne that his newspaper would stop featuring articles on the SNP’s party officials if that was proving to be problematic. This move on Mr. Volcere’s part goes against the Weekly’s philosophy to “keep the paper as the organ of real and truthful information with hard hitting opinions”. But they were willing to walk down that path if it meant the newspaper would hit the stands as usual every week.

The Editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly says at the moment the newspaper finds itself cornered as it no longer has a printing house in the country willing to print its material. Hardly surprising when the Weekly had burnt all its bridges, attacking the printing houses producing its newspaper, ensuring that it hits the stands every week.

Regar Printing Ltd states that another reason it is refusing to print Weekly is because of the insinuations the paper continually publishes, such as comments from columnist Mr. Christopher Gill hinting at SNP leadership being grassroots SPUP, hence pushing them to make certain political decisions. In his newspaper’s defense, Mr. Volcere states that a distinction should be made between an opinion and fact. Weekly says that Mr. Gill’s column is his opinion and not necessarily given fact, “it is important that anyone having an opinion, as long as it is not defamatory, should be made public.”

Weekly’s other grievance is that it has been shut down by the very same people championing the cause for freedom of expression and freedom of the press. “They (SNP) say they want to govern the country, if they ever come into power. Tomorrow, will they be able to stomach opinions different to theirs or criticism?” laments Mr. Volcere.

The fact that Weekly has been given this slap in the face by its one time partners is doubly hard for the paper’s management to swallow, prompting the press conference yesterday morning. Mr. Volcere admits they did not take similar action when PPH showed them the door as they felt there was another avenue open to them, namely Xpress printing. Facts show that when Regar, the SNP’S mouthpiece was out of circulation, Weekly felt it its duty to keep the oppositions’ voice heard, the same goes for when the SNP member of the National Assembly was conspicuously absent from the National Assembly.

To make the situation even worse, Weekly claims it is not in a position to open its own printing house as the money the government coffers hand out to political parties is not currently being made available to them. For the simple fact that the Democratic Party, of which Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly is the mouthpiece, did not take part in the last elections held in Seychelles.

Mr. Volcere speculated that the SNP has put that gagging order on the Weekly just a week before the Budget was presented at the National Assembly since they (SNP) do not want DP to voice out its thoughts on the issue of all politicians and members of parliament getting a salary raise. He says it would not be in the party’s interest to have made the public aware on DP’S take on the issue. Though Mr. Volcere hastens to add that Weekly is waiting to see how many perks the politicians are due to receive before taking any stance.

This is the second breach of contract issue arising between DP and SNP within the last months, the first being Frank Elizabeth’s seat in the assembly, whereby Gervais Henri a former radio producer replaced the DP candidate. The SNP has broken the agreement made with the DP representative in the National Assembly without written consent, permission and authorization of Chow (Seychelles Weekly Nov 2 2007), a decision prompting immediate court action on DPs behalf. Contrary to DPs latest trend of suing the SNP over contractual grievances, Mr. Volcere claims that he is not willing to go to court over the breach of a verbal contract, as the case may drag in the courts for a long time.

Instead Mr. Volcere says he will be pooling all his resources into finding another printing house overseas to publish Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly. How this will affect the already dear newspaper is yet to be seen. All camps involved are well aware that Ralph Volcere Editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly has joined the long queue of the happily unemployed. In regards to recent disparaging articles printed in Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly PPH and the Rising Sun newspaper, it will be a while yet till Weekly fulfills its promise ‘that the success we have achieved will be consolidated and will spur new ventures in the years to come. Watch this space. (Seychelles Weekly Oct 5 2007).’

(The Rising Sun, Tuesday December 4, 2007)

 

December 7, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles