National Assembly election 2016 - Delegation leaves to oversee ballot printing |27 August 2016
Representatives of the different political parties that will be contesting the National Assembly election leave today for South Africa to oversee the printing of ballot papers.
The seven-man delegation includes representatives from the three main political parties contesting the forthcoming election, namely Parti Lepep (PL), Seychelles Patriotic Movement (SPM), Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) and the three independent candidates.
Election Commission chairman Hendrick Gappy is heading the delegation.
Parti Lepep is being represented by Wilson Joseph, Seychelles Patriotic Movement by Vincent Larue, Linyon Demokratik Seselwa by Roy Fonseka, independent candidate for Anse Ax Pins Danny Sopha by Tina Pierre, independent candidate for Mont Buxton Georgie Prudence by himself and independent candidate for Au Cap Ralph Volcère by Steve Payet.
Apart from overseeing the design and printing of the ballot papers, the representatives of the National Assembly candidates will also choose the security seal which will make it counterfeit-proof and oversee the packaging of the ballot papers.
Once in Seychelles, the ballot papers will be put in a safe place under strict security until the election slated for September 8, 9 and 10.
The delegation is expected back in the country on Wednesday August 31.
More than 71,000 voters are eligible to vote in the September 8, 9 and 10 election which is costing the country more than R6 million.
Nomination day for the legislative election was on August 17, 2016.
Meanwhile, a fourth political party, Lafors Sosyal Demokratik (LSD), which had already registered its candidates for the election was barred from taking part after the Supreme Court decided this week that the political party should be taken off the official register.
Supreme Court Judge Durai Karunakaran gave the Electoral Commission 24 hours to comply with a court order upholding a previous ruling prohibiting the registration of both Linyon Sanzman and Lafors Sosyal Demokratik as political parties as well as prohibiting the commission from accepting, approving or registering nomination of candidates submitted by both parties.
The judge’s orders were in response to two petitions lodged before the court by opposition coalition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS).
The petitioner had asked for a ‘judicial review’ of the Electoral Commission’s decision to register Lafors Sosyal Demokratik (LSD) as a political party, arguing that the name Lafors Sosyal Demokratik “is identical or so nearly resembles the name of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS).”
In the case of Linyon Sanzman the petition was submitted a day after the Electoral Commission had informed the party’s leader Martin Aglaé that he could use the name which was the subject of a previous case heard by Judge Bernardin Renaud.
A coalition formed by members of four opposition parties now known as Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) who had planned to register the name Linyon Sanzman as the banner under which they would contest the upcoming National Assembly election had submitted a petition before the Supreme Court to contest the registration of their planned name by another political group.
It is not clear if Linyon Sanzman leader Martin Aglaé and Lafors Sosyal Demokratik (LSD) head Jimmy Gabriel will appeal the decision.
The Seychelles National Assembly consists of 32 members of which 25 are directly elected representing the 25 electoral districts in the country. Seven are proportionately elected.
The ruling party has won a majority in the assembly since the establishment of the Third Republic, which saw the return of a multi-party system in 1993.
In the last elections, all 25 directly elected seats were won by Parti Lepep which also holds six of the seven proportionately elected seats.
Franchesca Monnaie, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), currently holds the seventh proportional seat in the house.
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) was the only contender alongside Parti Lepep in 2011 as the main opposition parties boycotted the election.
Parliamentary polls in Seychelles are held every five years. The last election took place between September 29 and October 1, 2011.