National Assembly: Anse Boileau by-election |05 February 2018
Nomination Day today
Today is nomination day for the Anse Boileau by-election after the district’s seat in the National Assembly became vacant following the resignation of Patrick Pillay as both Speaker and as member of the National Assembly for the electoral area of Anse Boileau.
The candidates must report to the Electoral Commission headquarters at Aarti Chambers, Mont Fleuri as from 9am. All candidates must complete their nomination formalities by 1pm the latest.
The by-election will be held on Sunday February 25, 2018, the electoral commission has said.
Seychelles NATION has learned that basketball coach Philip Arissol was elected to stand for Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) in the by-election. An Anse Boileau resident, Mr Arissol was elected in a primary organised by LDS on Saturday and he was among four candidates.
Meanwhile, Seychelles NATION has also learned that Parti Lepep will not contest the election.
A member of the opposition coalition LDS, Mr Pillay was elected as a member for Anse Boileau in the parliamentary election of September 2016 and was elected Speaker of the National Assembly at the Assembly’s first sitting following this election.
Mr Pillay is the leader of Lalyans Seselwa ‒ a political party that is part of LDS ‒ the grouping that came into existence in 2016 to contest the National Assembly election. The three other opposition parties of the LDS are the Seychelles National Party (SNP), the Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy (SPSJD) and the Seychelles United Party (SUP). Independent candidate Philippe Boulle also forms part of LDS.
This will be the third by-election to take place since the country’s return to multi-party democracy. The last time a by-election was held in Seychelles was in August 2012 when Parti Lepep’s candidate, Meggy Sodie Marie ‒ a former teacher at the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) – won 1,317 votes. Independent candidate Lucas Georges came second with 650 votes, while Jane Carpin of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) came third, scoring 170 votes.
The National Assembly seat for Anse Aux Pins fell vacant when former member Jhowla Manoo tendered his resignation on July 11, 2012.
In July 1998, Jean-François Ferrari, who resigned from the National Assembly seat on June 24 “to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate”, got 612 of the total 704 votes cast to be re-elected Mont Fleuri MNA, while the only other contestant, Frank Elizabeth of the Democratic Party, got 84 votes.
The Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF), now Parti Lepep, did not field a candidate at that by-election, saying it was a farce and a waste of time.
In recent interviews, Mr Pillay said he “resigned as Speaker of the National Assembly and MNA of Anse Boileau for both political and personal reasons”.
"The Seychellois are suffering. Cohabitation is not working, so as the Speaker of the National Assembly, I decided to resign," Mr Pillay told the media.
Mr Pillay said that on the personal side it has to do with the charges that had been made by members of the Assembly and that had to be settled outside the court. That, he said, has been postponed several times and he had asked that the case be settled before January 30.
Mr Pillay said that since the conditions were not respected, he could not remain as Speaker of the National Assembly as members had no respect for him and had not honoured their commitment.
Seychelles News Agency wrote that the former Speaker said he felt marginalised within the LDS coalition.
"There are some people who think that I am blocking their way. I am not ready to sit and prevent people from achieving their ambitions ‒ that's another reason for my resignation,” he said.
Mr Pillay added that he had informed the LDS of his decision to resign since Sunday January 28 and that all members were also informed.
"When I decided to come out of my political retreat, my mission was to remove the Parti Lepep that has been in power for 41 years this year and my desire remains the same," he said.