The Voice of Reason:

IS RAMKALAWAN ANOTHER DOCTOR FAUSTUS?

Michel and Ramkalawan

Like the tragic figure in Christopher Marlowe’s novel, the aptly named Doctor Faustus, who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and power, all signs are that Ramkalawan has sold his soul to the SPPF. So much so, that he now finds the need to convince his supporters otherwise. The deal was apparently signed sealed and delivered at State House recently; a “fait accompli” which cannot be reversed. By using rhetoric like “We will continue to be a strong opposition” and defining the word “dialogue” for the less intelligent grass root element within the party, Ramkalawan hopes to convince the party faithful that it is business as usual in the SNP camp. However, rhetoric alone will not be sufficient to erase Ramkalawan’s sins. It is now abundantly clear that something must be amidst for Ramkalawan to suddenly and without warning turn the other cheek to the SPPF. After championing the “cause celebre” of “Nou Pa Pou Zanmen Les Tonbe” and “Politik Saboule” all the evidence suggest that Ramkalawan will finally “Les Tonbe” and return to his SPPF roots. Lest we forget, Ramkalawan comes from a prominent SPPF family and was once a very pro active member of the party. Although he is increasingly modeling himself on Albert Rene (someone that he secretly admires) in a desperate attempt to survive politically, it is questionable whether this formula will turn Ramkalawan’s fortune or misfortune (depending how you look at it) around and bring political success to him and his party after his many political failures.

Surprisingly neither Regar nor Ramkalawan have attacked President Michel politically for some time now and Ramkalawan shocked the whole nation when he chose the occasion of the SNP Convention recently to attack the jovial Mr. James Mancham instead! This baffled everybody as Mancham, it is generally agreed, is no longer a political force to be reckoned with in the country, having postured himself as “The Father of the Nation.” Whatever his motive, it certainly did not go down well with the delegates gathered at the Convention, as only last year Mancham stuck his neck out for Ramkalawan and openly supported his presidential bid. But it just goes to show the unpredictable nature of the man and one wonders who will be the next victim from his party who will be subjected to a tongue lashing from the impulsive Ramkalawan.

The question many are asking is this: Can President Michel and the SPPF trust Ramkalawan? After what he did to Paul Chow and DP it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Ramkalawan to earn the trust of another political party or leader ever again. His political credibility is in tatters and he is clearly a man with whom you cannot seriously do business. However, it is understandable why President James Michel and the SPPF would want to string Ramkalawan along with promises that they never intend to fulfill. By misleading Ramkalawan, SPPF expects to kill two birds with one stone. First, they will neutralize him politically in the short term and secondly kill him off completely in the long term. At this juncture the classic expression of the carrot and the stick springs to mind. SPPF is showing Ramkalawan plenty of SPPF carrots at the moment but will he ever taste the carrots or is he more likely to get plenty of SPPF sticks? Just like the man who tied the carrot at the end of a stick and dangled it in front of the donkey to get the donkey to take him to his ultimate destination on its back, Ramkalawan may never taste the carrot at all although he will have a damn good whiff of it!

Since the country is going through its worse economic spell at the moment, the last thing SPPF need is a rampant Ramkalawan running riot all over the place. Thus, the necessity to first muzzle him and then co-opt him on the SPPF bandwagon, something which Ramkalawan is clearly unashamed to do. Surprisingly, he has been quick to swallow both his pride and principle simultaneously in one gulp and jump at the chance to sprint through the gates of State House to have a tête-à-tête with the President of the Republic; if only to see what could have been had if he had been elected President. However, if Albert Rene has anything to do with it, Ramkalawan will be used, abused and then discarded like a piece of rubbish by the SPPF without remorse or regret. How can the SPPF ever forget and forgive the man who has not lost one single opportunity to publicly insult, offend, threaten, intimidate, blame, accuse, shame and discredit the SPPF as a party and its protagonists, Rene and Michel, both locally and internationally? Albert Rene is known to be a very vindictive man and age has not diminished his political edge and his Machiavellian approach to local politics one bit. It is unthinkable, therefore, to fathom that Rene together with Michel will suddenly forgive and forget all of Ramkalawan’s political sins and welcome him into the SPPF kingdom with open arms like the prodigal son. Ramkalawan will be very naïve to even contemplate this scenario. What is more likely to happen is Rene and Michel getting together to secretly plot the political demise of the unsuspecting Ramkalawan. If Ramkalawan is thinking otherwise, then he is really not as intelligent as many people give him credit for.

Ramkalawan’s sudden change of heart can only play into the hands of the Democratic Party which can now rise to take its rightful place in Seychelles politics and woo its supporters back from the waning SNP. It remains to be seen whether Paul Chow will grab this political opportunity and rise to the occasion. DP certainly has the resources, personnel and leadership to irreversibly change the course of Seychelles politics. History, it seems, has a weird way of repeating itself when you least expect it to do so!

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