2016 Legislative Election: Ramkalawan will be able to stand! |15 June 2016

It has now been confirmed that Seychelles National Party (SNP) leader Wavel Ramkalawan will be able to stand as a candidate in the legislative election scheduled for later this year.

The question the whole nation seemed to have been asking for the last two weeks was will the Constitutional Court order the Electoral Commission (EC) to strike the six-time presidential candidate and former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly off the voters’ register and prevent him from taking part in any elections for the next five years.

This was after the Court had ruled that Mr Ramkalawan was guilty of illegal practices prior to last December’s presidential election which he narrowly lost against current president James Michel. The ruling had followed two petitions which the Anglican priest had himself filed against the election results, on the base that the election had been marred by irregularities. The EC, President Michel and the Attorney General (AG) were cited as respondents.

Even if the Court accepted that the irregularities had taken place, it however ruled that they were not committed by Mr Michel’s agents and thus did not affect the election results.

In what opposition supporters present at the Supreme Court yesterday described as a victory for their leader, the Constitutional Court granted a stay of execution against the order to strike off Wavel Ramkalawan on the register of voters. The ruling which was read by Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey means that the order will not be sent to the EC until after the case is heard by the Court of Appeal and if only this highest court confirms the decision of the Constitutional Court.

The Court also rejected an application from the election petitions’ second respondents lawyer Basil Hoareau and the AG which had argued that the application for stay of execution was immature.

Lawyer Bernard Georges who had appealed against the findings of the Court of Appeal to send the report to the EC and who stood alongside his colleague Antony Derjacques to represent Mr Ramkalawan, has refused to consider this last development as a “victory”, and has rather qualified it as a “merit”.

“The case has been won on merit as the application had its merit. The Court has considered a balance of hardships as if Mr Ramkalawan could not stand in the coming election and would then win his appeal, it would not be possible to have new election and this would have equaled to a hardship,” he explained. 

He was here also referring to the case of Viral Dhanjee who was disqualified as a presidential candidate and in 2011 won an appeal against the decision, only after the election had been held.

Mr Georges is also mindful of the ruling in favour of his client as a temporary relief, as the final decision will be taken by the Court of Appeal.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling may however also bring some hope to the seasoned lawyer and his client, as it said that other than the hardships the appellant may suffer, the grant of stay of execution is based on the chances of success of the appeal

Mr Ramkalawan has been named the representative of Lalyans Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) for English River, giving strong indications that he will be candidate for the opposition alliance in the central Mahé district.

Immediately after the Court ruling, Vice-President of opposition party LDS Ahmed Afif posted the following words which speak volume on his face book page:

“Father WILL be a candidate and a voter in the next National Assembly elections!” Meanwhile, other persons who are suspected of illegal practices during the last presidential elections are to appear before the Constitutional Court on Tuesday June 28. They also face the possibility of having their names stricken off the voters’ register, even if lawyers are arguing that this is only possible in cases of severe criminal conviction.