NOW that we have seen the results of expenditure during an election year (See LNSW of January 25, 2008) we know that illegal financing of political parties has become a norm in the Seychelles. What is little understood, given the stance of the Members of the National Assembly in their opinions on the State of the Nation Address given by President Michel recently, is that political party finance and related corruption pose one of the greatest threats to democratic and economic development worldwide.
Corruption in politics, particularly during election periods, compromises a critical asset of democracy with the faith and support of ordinary citizens in the political system. When political parties fail to appeal to voters through the development of party platforms or suffer from weak institutional capacities, they often turn to vote buying as a means of securing support.
This in turn creates competitive election spending, driving up the cost of getting elected. As a result of high campaign costs, political parties become increasingly dependent on big sponsors with big interests or, in the case of incumbents, on the abuse of state resources. Consequently, the basic underlying principles of democracy such as one person, one vote, and government account ability are undermined and public confidence in the political process is eroded. In some cases, already limited public funds are diverted for private gain.
This issue was once debated during the earlier years of our return to multi-party democracy. It received some attention and has been placed on the back-burner until the recent State Of The Nation address by President Michel. The LNSW challenge President Michel and his cronies in the National Assembly to put their money where their mouths are.
What is actively required are public awareness campaigns and introduced legislative initiatives designed to restrict spending or improve disclosure about the sources of party funding and the expenditure of campaign funds. The success of these efforts varies and typically depends on a combination of legislation, enforcement regimes, and sustained political will for reform, and public pressure to demand more accountability in politics. The Members of the National Assembly have all spoke about their unwavering support for the undertaking of such an initiative. What now remains is “Judge me by my actions”, and given President Michel and the SPPF track record, the outcome is predictable. President Michel is grasping at straws as he has been doing since he assumed the office of President in 2004.
This conclusion is an obvious one given that the political playing field like everything else in Seychelles is not fair, it is not transparent and it has no accountability. There is no specific Political Party Finance Law. The available sanctions, if these do exist have never been enforced. No spending limits have been set on the amounts that political parties can spend. The budgets set for political parties are based on a per vote basis of last election results. No disclosure laws exist on the source of political financing in the Seychelles except for the submission of basic financial statements which are not made public.
The task of bringing into line the numerous businesses that front for the SPPF throughout the business environment in the Seychelles is not a task that a man of President Michel's pedigree and calibre will even dare dream of tackling. Only a man who is much more Realistic, with much stronger Resilience, and a better understanding of Responsibility will succeed. The RRR man? That man is not President Michel. At least according to what we have seen thus far.