President Faure ends State visit to Mauritius |30 October 2017
• Seen off by PM Jugnauth, Mauritian dignitaries
President Danny Faure returned to Seychelles yesterday evening after a four-day State visit to Mauritius.
President Faure was seen off at the airport by PM Pravind Jugnauth and his wife Lady Kobita, members of the Mauritian government and other dignitaries.
The working sessions and discussions the President and his delegation have had with their Mauritian counterpart have been described as fruitful and successful by the principal secretary for Foreign Affairs Michelle Murray who said it has accomplished the mission and target set.
“The working sessions and discussions the two sides have had have been fruitful and have resulted in tangible results for the people of Seychelles,” PS Murray said highlighting the decisions that have been formalised through the five different agreements the two governments signed.
She noted that with the signing of the different agreements many doors have opened for things to start moving quickly.
“It now remains for the different institutions and agencies concerned to start engaging with their Mauritian counterparts to start the different procedures for action,” Ms Murray said.
On Friday afternoon of the second day of his 1st State visit to Mauritius, President Faure received individually and held talks with other key Mauritian personalities and these include the Chief Justice Keshoe Parsad Matadeen, the Speaker of the National Assembly Santi Bai Hanoomanjee and the leader of the opposition Gaëtan Xavier Luc Duval.
Deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles Nicholas Prea, also elected MP for Bel Ombre, and Parti Lepep member Basil Hoareau attended the meeting with Speaker Hanoomanjee.
“It was an honour for us to have met Mrs Hanoomanjee and share our experience and discuss parliamentary issues,” Mr Prea said afterwards.
“What came out clearly is that parliamentary deliberations in Mauritius are not as smooth and civilised as ours and recently for instance the leader of the opposition was thrown out and suspended for two sittings for disrespect,” Mr Prea said.
He also pointed out that it was an opportunity for them to discuss numerous issues of importance which will be formalised in a memorandum of understanding between the two parliaments in the near future.
Finding ways to give new dynamism to the Indian Ocean Parliamentary Association is an issue which Mrs Hanoomanjee and Mr Prea have agreed to discuss further with their parliament and hopefully address with all the other speakers of the region on the sideline of the Commonwealth Speakers Conference in January next year.
How the Mauritian and Seychelles Parliaments could work together to have more exchanges between them was also discussed.
“The aim is to share experience and best practices for instance on committee work and how the two parliaments’ committees function, explore ways to bring members of the two parliaments closer together so they can learn from each other,” Mr Prea pointed out.
During the visit bilateral relations and cooperation between Seychelles and Mauritius were further highlighted during different informal gatherings hosted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Seetanah Luchmeenaridoo, the Minister for Tourism Anil Kumarsingh Gayan and lastly by the Deputy PM Ivan Leslie Colendavelloo.