Presidential election 2015 - Alexia Amesbury calls for peaceful campaigning |26 October 2015

Female presidential candidate Alexia Amesbury has called on all politicians to show respect and campaign in a peaceful manner ahead of the December 3-5 presidential election.

Mrs Amesbury is also the leader of the Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy (SPSJD).

Talking during a press conference early Saturday afternoon, Mrs Amesbury said “the party in power which boasts a lot of resources should not victimise the other opposition parties which do not have the financial and human resources”.

A lawyer by profession, Mrs Amesbury said “we need to have an election that shows to the world that Seychelles is a mature democracy”.

“To my experience, actually we cannot say Seychelles is a mature democracy. If it was the case, people would not have felt afraid to express themselves freely. Some people say they cannot support an opposition party because they will be victimised as their children are waiting for scholarships or they await planning approval for future construction,” said Mrs Amesbury.

She added that “victimisation exists in Seychelles” and noted that “people should not be afraid to speak freely as freedom of expression is enshrined in our Constitution and to make their own choices in a democratic society”.

Mrs Amesbury pointed out that “opposition party leaders should not be victimised as is the case now”.

“I call on the party in power to play fair,” she said.

She added that she will announce the name of her running mate before nomination day on November 11. This, she said, will be done during another press conference, adding that “she who announces last announces the best”.

The party’s manifesto will also be launched during the press conference.

“Like I said earlier, victimisation is real in Seychelles and as long as I can protect the identity of my party members I will, as it is easy to deviate from issues to personal attacks,” she said.

The SPSJD leader added that between now and election day she will put up a case asking that two government ministers resign from their posts.

“We have proof that the two ministers acquired properties based on corruption. We are not going to reveal the documents now, but it will be revealed.

“A lot of people know that I withdrew a court case lately and the reason I did so is firstly because I was asking for the election to be delayed and this has happened.

“The second reason is I had asked the court to declare that the rights to vote would be violated because of the voters’ register credibility. I realised that if the court has to pronounce itself on that issue now, after the election if we want to challenge the results, we would not have been able to,” explained Mrs Amesbury.

Mrs Amesbury explained that although her dogs have been killed and people have been following her husband on Praslin where he lives, she does not feel intimidated and will not back off.

 “It makes me even more determined. I am being treated like a criminal and yet don’t have any weapon. I only have a pen, a piece of paper and a book. People know very well that the pen is mightier than the sword. And that I suspect is the reason they are afraid of me,” concluded Mrs Amesbury.