‘Lalyans Seselwa remains committed to LDS,’ says SG Afif |16 February 2018

The secretary general (SG) of the Lalyans Seselwa, Ahmed Afif, said that the statement made by the party leader of Lalyans Seselwa Patrick Pillay that the party has parted ways with the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) is false.

The statement suggested that the entire party had made the decision but according to Mr Afif it is not the case.

Mr Afif said that Mr Pillay should not have dragged the party into this as it was his personal belief that Lalyans Seselwa should depart from the LDS coalition, not the party’s decision.

“The party makes decisions through a structure guided by the constitution and the National Executive Committee (Nec) which makes decisions. For a decision of that magnitude it would definitely have to be taken at a physical meeting where all members have been informed and are present and the item of whether or not to leave LDS is stated clearly on the agenda then a vote is taken. I can confirm as the secretary general of the party I have not received a notice of such a meeting, I have attended no such meeting and no such decision has been taken,” he said.

He said most members of the committee were made aware of the statement through the media or social media.

He said as SG his role is to defend the structure and Nec members as well as show them respect.

“Part of our motto is dignity and justice which equals peace so dignity is important and you have to show dignity to your members and that was not the case last night (Wednesday),” he said.

Mr Afif stated that it was not the first time that such decisions have been taken in the last six to seven months.

“As you may recall in August when Mr Pillay found himself standing alone with very few members of the executive committee backing him at the Clock Tower with a banner supposedly to support Ryan Moncherry who was allegedly a strong supporter of Lalyans Seselwa which was not the case because he stood up and spoke for President Michel in Parti Lepep’s PPB in December 2015,” he said.

Another decision taken where the committee was not consulted is when Mr Pillay decided to resign as the Speaker of the National Assembly and member of the National Assembly for Anse Boileau on January 29, 2018.

“The third decision was last night (Wednesday) where he dragged the party into disrepute by saying that the party had taken a decision to leave LDS while this decision has never been discussed tabled and voted on. The last time the members met with Mr Pillay was in a meeting last week on February 6 where they expressed their disappointment in his decision to resign,” Mr Afif said.

He said they find that this is a regrettable situation but they wish to move on and to re-affirm that Lalyans Seselwa remains committed behind LDS.

Present during the meeting were members of the Lalyans Seselwa party Clifford Andre, Wavel Woodcock, Terrence Mondon, François Adelaide and Simone Decomarmond.