GIVEN the current state of the nation today, it is an apt time to ask some deep questions about the man who is leading us. Given the astuteness and political nimbleness of his predecessor, President France Albert Rene, the current president is considered a non-starter in the survival of leaders' race. Many people are filled with a great deal of comfort when we know that our leader is significantly smarter and wiser than we are. Is this asking for too much from a leader?
Although some people will think that we are questioning the President's intelligence, to do so one would have to be an idiot to think that he is on the slow side. You don't become the second-most-powerful man in the land by being stupid.
We just get the sense that his top supporters, people in top positions, don't respect him. Or they just think that they are smarter than he is, people like Francis Chang-Leng, Glenny Savy even David Savy for that matter. All they respect is what they can get because of him.
One can't shake the feeling that they will discard him like “used by date” on a tin of tuna; once they are rid of him, they will go on the hunt for some other poor soul who is hungry and desperate enough for power for whatever reason.
Unfortunately many will claim much love for him, but we suspect they would rather nurse their expensive Chivas Regals while he burns, since he would have achieved their purpose in according protection and long term financial security for them.
This begs the question as to who is calling the shots in SPPF; this arises from the fact that up to the present time the SPPF have not had the annual congress, breaking with tradition. At the last SPPF conference it felt as if Michel was not part of the leading pack of the SPPF, at least not part of the leading top two, despite being Secretary General. The current collective argument is that the leadership of the SPPF does not think that he makes a good president. This is causing Michel to be a lame-duck president……..
We see the lack of power in small humiliations, so small that they go unnoticed. In the future they might become more blatant. Time will tell. He is made to retract a statement here and another one there. He is forced to say he was misquoted. Can you imagine that happening to President Rene?
If all this is true, then it is fair to say that James Alix Michel does not lead; he is being led.
Michel’s presidency is becoming a sad and tragic affair.
Michel does try his utmost to be a likable and charming man. He fought so hard for power that when he got it, he discovered he had it in name only. He is told how to wield it. Just look at the number of dodgy back-door deals that are going through his administration; either he does not know what is going on or he prefers to turn a blind eye, but in the meantime things are getting from bad to worst.
This is not what we expect from our leader: We want to know what our leader stands for. We don't want to hear him say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow. We don't want a leader who stands just for his own survival. We want a leader who will make sure that every Seychellois don't just survive but thrive. We don't want a leader who follows the public mood, but one who shapes it. We want a leader who will tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.
Do we have such a man leading our country today?