WHEN THE COOKIE CRUMBLES!

Shakespeare once said: “To be or not to be, that is the question…” This timeless question now seems to haunt the SPPF as all signs are that the SPPF will finally abandon their Socialist/Communist ideologies, with a centrally controlled economy being its centre piece, and adopt the principles of a free market economy instead. This comes after a not so subtle persuasion from the IMF; something former President Rene said he would never adhere to. The more modern thinking President James Michel, it seems, is in a rush to catch up with the rest of the contemporary world by transforming an archaic and failing economy into a modern, vibrant and performing entity. The objective, he said, was to “…double GDP by 2017.” This come after Seychelles lost 30 years experimenting with communist economic principles with catastrophic consequences and has clearly cost the country dearly

However, many members of the communist styled SPPF party do not seem to understand what the President is trying to achieve. For instance, last week the Minister of Finance, Mr. Danny Faure, made a statement in the National Assembly that the Government will adopt an alternative to price control by January 2008. He said the details of this new system will be announced in his budget speech in the first week of December. The price control legislation apparently sticks out as a sore thumb in the overall economic landscape. It is clearly out of place in the economic set up that President Michel is trying to achieve. Thus, the decision of government to dismantle it, in favour of an alternative system which is more in sync with a free market economy.

Honourable Charles Decommarmond, it seems, like many other SPPF stalwarts, are oblivious to the rapid change of policies within his own party. Last week he foolishly proposed an amendment to a motion tabled by Honourable Hardy Lucas (SNP) calling for the government to intervene at SMB to reduce the cost of animal feed. Decomarmond said that he will only support the motion if the mover agrees to his amendment, which calls for price control to be introduced on the price of meat. He promptly walked out of the Assembly with contempt when Lucas refused to amend the motion.

When addressing the Securities Bill 2007 which aims to set up a stock exchange in Seychelles for the first time, in front of Minister Danny Faure, Honourable Frank Elizabeth (DP) also stated that the Bill marks a “departure” from SPPF’s past policies. However, he expressed concerns about whether such a structure will be successful here in the absence of a clear and effective mechanism to solve the foreign exchange shortages. Referring to the prevailing foreign exchange crisis, Mr. Elizabeth stated that the Bill was like putting the “cart before the horse.”

Similar sentiments were also echoed by Honourable Bernard Georges, when he stated that the SPPF is at a cross-road. They are between two minds and incapable of decisively making a decision whether to ditch their socialist/communist ideologies once and for all or to adopt internationally accepted norms and trends. The former policies are responsible for creating an unprecedented economic crisis in Seychelles and are in danger of sinking the country in the process. Georges said that the SPPF is confused and does not know whether to be more pragmatic and cut the chain that ties them eternally to 5th June 1977 and move on or to remain stuck ideologically in a time warp.

All indications are that President James Michel is being coerced to make a last ditch effort at turning the economy around. The President has manifested his intentions by sending three Bills before the National Assembly which he hopes would add a credible third pillar to the economy and cash in on the billions of dollars worth of investments floating around the world. The third economic pillar, after tourism and fisheries, would most definitely be the Financial Sector. The President has also taken the bull by the horns by reluctantly opting for devaluation of the Seychelles rupee by as much as 64%; a move which he vouched not to adopt last year because, according to him, “…it would cause too much hardship to the most vulnerable in society.”

In addition to devaluation the President has also doubled taxation on fuel at the pump and enforced large scale redundancies in the civil service. There are now plans to triple the road tax from R.1 per cc to R3 per cc as the SPPF has stated in the National Assembly that the money being collected at present is not enough to cover the maintenance cost of our roads. The question many are now asking is: How much shock therapy can the Seychellois take? Only the election results in 2011 will tell!