One Seychelles condemns attempts to bribe its candidates
It was without the predictable pomp and ceremony of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa and United Seychelles’ candidates that One Seychelles entered the Electoral Commission’s headquarters on Friday Morning to submit its prospective candidates’ documentation for the National Assembly elections.
Still new on the political scene -in fact this is the first election that the Party led by former tourism minister Alain St Ange contests -One Seychelles submitted nominations for 20 candidates for the upcoming legislative elections. However after procedures by the Electoral Commission of Seychelles and inspection by other parties, only 18 qualified and two were rejected.
“We did not present candidates for the26 districts as we were examining the chances of first past the post,” explained St Ange.
However, St Ange dropped the first bombshell of the day when he revealed that there were attempts to bribe the One Seychelles candidate for the Bel Air constituency on the eve of presenting his documents to the Electoral Commission.
“He was told to switch off his phone as from Thursday night and he will receive a sum of SCR 25,000 and double that sum after nomination,” St Ange told the press after presenting his party’s candidates’ documents on Friday morning.
The One Seychelles Party leader went on to say that such practices are totally unacceptable in this day and age and that it goes against the spirit of democracy.
“We know who the person is, we have the number that they have been using. So we intend to see what is being done about this. But this must stop!” said St Ange. He promised that soon OS will play the recording of that telephone call.
“When you make the conscious decision to become a candidate, there are roles and responsibilities that one must assume, as you are now the representative of the people in the district you are standing in, and no one else,” said St Ange on the legislative candidates’ nomination day.
Meanwhile in the case of the attempt to bribe a One Seychelles candidate into withdrawing their candidacy in the upcoming legislative elections, St Ange emphatically stated that the recording will be aired in due time to reveal the culprit behind this attempt at thwarting democracy. The case is reminiscent of previous elections when candidates who were perceived as potential threats were bought off and those involved would go about with their business as usual. The manner through which the brand new Electoral Commission tackles the issue is also one that is sparking much interest amid voters and candidates alike. There are accusations that the EC is favoring the two big parties.
