Political bullying now a major concern
After years of pushing for changes in the government bandwagon, the Seychelles National Party now operating under the name of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa, has finally come out to prove that the only change they really want is in the name of the party in power. So far the political broadcasts forming part of the LDS campaign have shown its presidential hopeful, telling the public to vote for him and not to worry because he will keep the same things which are in place and which he had spoken against before.
A classic example is the subject of how to treat drug addicts. Throughout the past four years LDS has been against the methadone programme as a substitute therapy for heroin addicts. LDS has argued that it is badly managed and costing the government millions when better results could be achieved by opting for cold turkey treatment. As luck would have it, the drug addicts constitute around one tenth of the population and over 90% of them are of voting age. This makes them a prime target group for vote seeking politicians.
Having always blasted the programme and spoken harshly about those availing of it, LDS has unwittingly alienated this group of voters. Since every single vote will be important in determining the results of the forthcoming elections, LDS has had to make a huge shift in its position regarding methadone. All of a sudden the message coming from Ramkalawan is that the addicts can rest assured that a government led by him would cater for their methadone treatment and even give them higher doses so as to increase success rate. He even went one better and stated that the agency responsible for the programme APDAR would remain and that the jobs of those working there are valued and will be retained. This is a far cry from his previous declaration that in his opinion APDAR should be closed down.
This dillydallying and playing fast and loose with such an important topic has had Ramkalawan’s opponent compiling video evidence of him contradicting himself by first saying one thing then another which is completely opposite to his earlier statement. As this video has gone viral, veteran politician Paul Chow posted it on FaceBook and immediately opened himself up to political cyber bullying. All of a sudden the man who is daily posting on the internet and giving insight into matters such as having to do with economics or the Constitution, has found himself at the receiving end of LDS nastiness. The LDS Facebook army of keyboard warriors, spared no words to denigrate and insult Mr. Chow. They went as far as to label him as a geriatric.
Chow is only one recipient of this bullying. Others who have taken the risk to endorse a candidate in the elections which is not from LDS could well be the target of political bullying. The Independent candidate from Beau Vallon has said that his endorsers have been telephoned and insulted. Furthermore, this newspaper holds information which shows that bullying may well have been one of the reasons why LDS took the bother to inspect all the nominations of its opponents and object to their being allowed to participate in the elections.
