In times of cohabitation - A call for National Unity |06 September 2017

Romans 13 - “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For all authority comes from GOD, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by GOD”.

My reflection today is geared towards the latest development in Seychelles, whereby Lalyans Seselwa (LS) is calling for President Danny Faure to resign through silent protests in Victoria supported by LS leader Patrick Pillay who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly.

I, as a ‘voice of the Nation’, duly respect the right of anyone to express their views, through protests or otherwise. It is binding as our human rights in our Constitution, as long as we do it in the spirit of peace, tranquility and harmony and for the benefit of our small island country – Seychelles.

It is the fastidious time to take a deep breath and recollect our thoughts on the event. Now is the time to find common ground with our political compatriots and begin healing from the wounds of division.

Today, I want to indulgently and conscientiously and in an openly, publicly and unequivocally stance declare that I firmly stand as a ‘National Unity Advocate’ of Seychelles. In search for better greatness of our country, I stand to promote the virtues of Peace, Love and Reconciliation for the National Unification of my people – the Seychellois.

"Seychelles is greater than all of us", and as citizens of this beautiful country, we stand responsible in a unified ideological mindset to bridge the gap to a peaceful Seychelles for the love of our country. In this cohabitation period, I believe that Seychelles is greater than all of our political leaders put together and therefore whatever actions are undertaken by them as leaders must be in the interest of the Seychelles first principle.

The constituents of Seychelles want an elected president and consequently fresh presidential elections will be most welcoming and fore-thinking, but again – in the spirit of National Reconciliation and National Unification!

As a result of the recent early election protests, the people of Seychelles call for the need of increased forbearance and a willingness to face facts. We partake that as responsible citizens, our responsible leaders will now work to resolve the various problems which cause political frictions and unrests. The recent protests have given indication that we all have opportunity for a new constructive and realistic approach to ensure that the cohabitation process works in paving the way to fresh presidential elections in the spirit of ‘accountability, transparency and good governance’.

With much tolerance, we have now been faced by a series of demonstrations during the 3rd week of August 2017 by some of our political activists, and the people anticipate that there is no indirect influence and led in part by optimistic outsiders. We recognise the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realised. But we are convinced that there are priority issues to address and the need to establish new policies, which encompass rebuilding all the democratic institutions for due processes.

In line for the voting process to become more credible and to have transparent elections, depicting ‘true and fair’ results to the Seychellois voters, as the National Unity Advocate I strongly believe that one crucial warranty is a new structure for the Electoral Commission and new electoral laws. We need these before any new elections formally takes place in our small island State. In the early stage of my advocacy, I reiterated that I am advocating for the National Unification of my people, hence wish to point out that “hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions”. And since the latest actions were conducted in a technically peaceful atmosphere, the voters wait to see what contribution it will bring forth to the resolution of our local problems. We commend the community as a whole, and the local news media and law enforcement officials in particular, on the calm manner in which these protests have been handled. We urge the public to continue to show restraint through tolerance should the protests continue and the law enforcement officials to ensure safety of everyone before, during and after the protests.

In this cohabitation period, the Seychellois public expects a strategic approach in achieving full transparency, efficiency, competence and accountability in the budget management and administration, in a direction perceived to be inclusive for all.

My advocacy has led me to reason out that in all this, we need to bring a good image and a positive bearing on our youths in helping them to have a sound idea in regards to our election process in Seychelles and the devoted need to respect and submit to our government authorities.

We pray for the leaders of our country and look forward to their successful future endeavours. And we pray that the truth will prevail and the leaders act in a genuine manner and for the benefit of Seychelles as a whole and not purely for their political ambition to lead the country.

The people of Seychelles continue to pray that there will not be any fragmental eclipse or separation within the leading political party and that the cohabitation surpass our expectations in leading the way to a reformed electoral platform for true and non-bias elections in the ‘New Seychelles’, in the near future.

Jacob Terence Madeleine, ACSI

Writer, National Unity Advocate

Disclaimer:

The views expressed in these letters are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.