THE Seychelles National Party has been admitted as a full member of the Liberal International, at a convention in Belfast.
Party leader, Wavel Ramkalwan, was present at the gathering and, according to a communiqué, made an acceptance speech.
The irony is that neither the SNP nor the Liberals seem capable of winning any election. The Liberal Party has been in the opposition for over a century. The Conservative Party, allied to the Democratic Party (DP) in Seychelles, won the recent local elections and is poised to form the next government.
As for the SNP, it has contested every election since the return of pluralism in 1992, as Parti Seselwa, United Opposition and now the SNP, and lost them all.
Voter fatigue has set in and now most supporters are having second thoughts, switching parties or even saying they will not bother to vote.
The Democratic Party won every single election in Seychelles in the years prior to the 1977 coup d'Etat in which some now SNP officials played a key role. At each election, a group of Lib Dem workers converge on Mahe to teach the SNP on how best to lose. That is all they are capable of teaching from past experiences.
The SPPF, after 1992, has won all elections with the backing of the state apparatus, official media and above all money.
But this situation will not last. The day will come, when the tide will change again.
After all, the political champions of today are not the champions of tomorrow.