Editorial

A SAD DAY FOR SEYCHELLES!

At a time when President James Michel and the SPPF are literally running the country into the ground, Ramkalawan decided that this was the opportune time to break the electoral alliance and undermine the good work done by the opposition thus far. The “fait accompli” was presented to DP leader, Mr. Paul Chow, late afternoon on Monday, without discussion or consultation. Of course the reason given for this decision baffled even the most mundane observer as it conveys confusion and incomprehension. It was clear from what was said on SBC television that the offence, if any, was not serious enough to warrant the severity of the punishment applied. What quickly became abundantly clear though was that the DP had been strung along from the very beginning and had been taken on the shortest roller-coaster political joy ride in the political history of the country. In a move that could have been plucked from the pages of the book of the great Machiavelli himself, the whole nation was shocked when the decision was announced.

This could not have happened at a worse moment since the SPPF had recently doubled taxes on fuel, devalued the rupee by as much as 64%, implemented large scale redundancies and is set to double the road tax from R.1 per cc to R.3 per cc. The price of one tin of anchor milk has increased from an initial price of R. 29 a tin four years ago to R.75.75. Air Seychelles has also increased the cost of its air line ticket and the people of Seychelles are at their most vulnerable than at any time in the history of our country.

In the face of all this difficulty a spanner was needlessly thrown in the works. The alliance was dramatically broken and the concerted effort of the alliance in the opposition halted. The political spot-light was diverted to the opposition instead of the failings of the SPPF government. This is a sad state of affairs and the people of Seychelles surely deserves better from our politicians. Whatever the motive of the leader of the opposition to resort to such a drastic measure, the political momentum has been broken and the opposition spirit busted. The opposition as a whole is seen to be turning on itself and devouring its own; giving an undeserved political advantage to the SPPF. The alliance was in the national interest and would have ultimately achieved its goal to remove the SPPF from power. Both DP and SNP had a common objective and a roadmap how to get there. This troubled the SPPF and they made it clear from the outset that they would do anything to break the alliance. For reasons best known to the SNP Executive Committee, they chose to play into the hands of the enemy.

It is not the first time that the DP has been duped by its political partner. In June 1977 the erstwhile Albert Rene deposed the then DP President Mr. James Mancham after the latter had made an agreement, brokered by the British, with the SPUP and formed a coalition government after Independence in June 1976. This time around the SNP has broken the agreement made with the DP leader Paul Chow not to remove the DP representative in the National Assembly without the written consent, permission and authorization of Chow.

Marie Louise Potter, the Leader of Government Business, did not skip a breath when she eagerly join the political charade and aired the SPPF views on the political shenanigan un-ravelling. She was like the vulture which had come to devour the remains of the political cadaver after the killer-blow had been administered. She dramatically played to the camera and sent a sombre warning when she said that had the opposition won the last elections what would have happened to our country. She was poised, calm and collected as she scored political points after points after each utterance which compounded the political embarrassment of the opposition. She was, for once, perfect in her delivery and analysis of the current political situation in Seychelles and she promptly introduced a politics of fear and panic amongst the populace. It is now left to the opposition to pick up the pieces of this bloody massacre. God save the Alliance!