Editorial
Who Will Tell President James Michel the Bad News
How credible is the Administration of President James Michel? This question is asked with the events that have occurred in the last few months here in the Seychelles. We begin by looking at the President’s actions. He appeared on television earlier in the year praising the work he had done over the supposed 100 days he had been in elected office. James Michel was full of praise about the achievements of his government and he was very positive about the future economic prospects including the imminent discovery of oil within Seychelles waters. This last point was given immense publicity in the state controlled Media. There was not a hint of trouble ahead. Everything seemed to smell of roses. Then disaster struck! People were viciously sacked from their employment under the pretext of restructuring. Reasons given include that the economy has and is continuing to grow and the people dismissed without legal recourse will immediately find employment. In all of this let us judge the President by his actions: (1) When did he know about the restructuring exercise? (2) Why aren’t there any figures (facts) made available in support of the restructuring exercise? (3) If the economy is growing, it is doing so by how much, and how fast? (4) The first pillar of economic activity in the private sector is tourism - this has been hit very, very, very hard by the doubling of the taxes on fuel. When did President Michel know of these increases? (5) What effect does all this have on the economy in Seychelles, when will we see these effects?
All in all, if the President knew of these (price increases and the sackings in the civil services) before his “100 Days” victory speech - he should have taken this opportunity to prepared the Seychellois public for the crisis we are now facing. Like a bad leader he preferred then to hide behind manufactured glowing reports of his first 100 days and ignored the future of his country. Another sign of bad leadership is the inability to explain categorically what the government is trying to achieve through the measures currently being undertaken; devaluation, price increases, sacking……….
The sudden increase in fuel prices to the private sector cannot be passed onto customers that hotels and tour operators have been contracted overseas. This means that many tourist ventures with overseas tour operators are now facing up to 70% increases in operating costs over a short period with no ability to recover these costs. This has had an inflationary effect and also directly affects economic growth and will dampen any potential economic capital investments. Did President James Michel know of these effects? Was he advised of these effects? If not, why not? What corrective measures can be taken to avoid tail-spin inflation in the Seychelles economy?
These are events that are slowly unfolding before our very eyes in the Seychelles. Rather than focus on the economic disaster that is looming before our very eyes President James Michel is attempting to block public outcry over his mis-handling of the Seychelles economy. What is happening in the Seychelles is a direct result of mis-management of the economy by President James Michel and his advisors. They are striving for political survival and are taking steps, albeit wrong ones, to ensure their continued existence. They do not have the interests of Seychelles at heart. These plans are those that will lead Seychelles into an economic disaster. The question is “Who amongst them is prepared to speak out and tell President Michel what he does not want to hear?”
