It’s time to assess the political cohabitation before the 2020 Elections

Dear Sir,

Thank-you for giving me some space to make some reflections that could help Seychellois on how to cast their votes.

The outgoing President Danny Faure said in an interview with TeleSesel that in some ways the cohabitation he had to live with LDS, which held a majority in the National Assembly, had hampered the implementation of some of his plans. Faure was being politically correct. He refrained from saying that the cohabitation did not work. In many cases, the two sides disagreed and winning the opinion of the public seemed to be more important than the well-being of the people. But, it was widely known that they were doing personal deals behind the scene. In the context of cohabitation, many changes have been aimed at bringing more transparency and good governance. Did they succeed? These are the questions voters need to ask themselves when deciding who to vote for in the next election. The composition of many bodies such as the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA) more closely reflected the majority party in the National Assembly.

Along with the CAA, most boards of directors, especially critical boards such as SBC, have also changed, and for the most part many opposition supporters are members of those boards. Has it made a significant improvement in the way these organizations have fulfilled their roles, or is it just more or less the same? SBC is one of those organizations that has undergone profound changes in its leadership and board of directors, but has the state broadcaster really lived up to it?

Even the appointment of the Police Commissioner Kishnan Labonte seems to have been a push from LDS, and the lack of efficiency in the force doesn’t reflect well on them.

A great success of the cohabitation was the live broadcast of all the sessions of the National Assembly and its committees. This allowed the public to see its Members of Parliament exercising their oversight role over the government and the activities of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee were eagerly followed by the people.

The wrong doings of the Irish in the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) have been exposed and there has been a lot of expectation of at least one court case from the FPAC, but unfortunately this has not been the case. Even the long-awaited interview with former President James Michel as part of the FIU investigations has not become a reality.

There has not been any followups after the theatrics of live coverage from SBC, it was done for public consumption rather than to get to the bottom of the tort. The Anti-Corruption Commission only succeeded in prosecuting and securing one person convicted of corruption, and that person was one of its own staff. The work of the Truth Reconciliation National Unity Commission has probably been the most watched programme on SBC since it began its work to empower those affected by the coup of June 5, 1977; to come forward and present their cause. Due to the lack of funds, TRNUC is now seeking to obtain the necessary Funds to compensate the victims of the coup, through a national Lottery. It too has not performed to expectations. As the October elections approach, Seychellois need to carefully assess the contribution these organizations have made to the progress of the country and in doing so decide what cohabitation has really brought to Seychelles.

Anne O. Nimuss