SNP delegates and supporters alike were stunned and shell-shocked when Ramkalawan, in an unprecedented political manoeuvre, announced on Sunday, at the SNP Convention at the International Conference Centre, that he has decided to be more positive vis-a-vis the government henceforth. He said that he will support any decision taken by the government, which is in the “national interest.” Ironically, only recently when Mr. Frank Elizabeth voted in favour of ratification of an agreement between Seychelles and France in the National Assembly, an agreement which incidentally provided for France to patrol our Exclusive Economic Zone, Ramkalawan went on television to announce that he was breaking off the opposition alliance and booting Elizabeth out of the National Assembly. Last week the SNP MNAs were also seen voting “en bloc” together with the SPPF in the National Assembly, in what was generally perceived as a sight for sore eyes. This decision has been expected for some time now as both Ramkalawan and the SNP mouthpiece, Regar, have been conspicuously quiet over the economic and political situation evolving in the country at the moment. Although Seychelles is going through its worse economic crisis ever with the rupee being devalued for the first time in its history and petrol prices doubling at the pumps, Ramkalawan and the SNP have remained tight lipped and oblivious to the sufferings of the ordinary Seychellois families. They have failed to make any pronouncement on these issues but have chosen instead, uncharacteristically, to join the President for a cup of tea in the afternoon at State House. Ramkalawan stated that the meeting was very “brief” but another one has been planned for the 28th November. It is not clear why Ramkalawan has decided to change tactics and chosen this particular moment to be more conciliatory to the SPPF government, after vowing not to engage them if there are no tangible changes in the way the country is administered under the SPPF.
In fact, SNP was very critical of Sir James Mancham when he professed a conciliatory and reconciliatory mode of politics towards the SPPF rather than a confrontational, destructive and disparaging form of opposition. Ramkalawan single handedly and savagely attacked and destroyed Mancham’s political credibility by repeatedly alleging, wrongly or rightly, that Mancham was accepting too many favours from the SPPF and abandoning the people. It seems that Ramkalawan has decided to emulate Mancham’s style by overtly accosting the SPPF to make, what is generally perceived are sinister deals at the expense of the opposition supporters and abandoning his fiery brand of confrontational politics, which has hitherto been relatively successful. Ramkalawan is known to do things in the extreme and was embarrassingly seen with all his troops at the army camp with President Michel celebrating 30 years of SPPF…oops, SPDF. This come on the heels of his recent visit to State House to have a tête-à-tête with the President; a visit reminiscent of that of Mancham which he paid to Ex-President Albert Rene on his arrival from many years of exile in London. What has brought on this sudden change of attitude is not clear but it does appear to be very suspicious indeed. It also comes immediately after Ramkalawan publicly announced that he was breaking the opposition alliance with DP; something which the SPPF has been putting pressure on DP to do for some time now without success. Many people are now asking whether Ramkalawan will now form an alliance with the SPPF in the light of his recent unpredictable behaviour. President Michel can now claim victory for achieving something which his predecessor could not, that is, having tea with Ramkalawan at State House.