Open Letter to the chairperson and board of the Seychelles Interfaith Council (Sifco) |24 July 2018

What are Sifco’s views on the political bi-partisan arrangement behind regional councils set-up?

I am writing to you as a concerned citizen of Seychelles. On Friday July 6, the Seychellois nation learned of a ceremony held earlier in the day at ICCS, where the Designated Minister Mrs Macsuzy Mondon presented to the country 49 persons who were nominated to represent 7 Regional Councils across the country. This was done in the presence of President Danny Faure and Mr Roger Mancienne, chairman of the political party LDS (Linyon Demokratik Seselwa). Mrs Mondon delivered a carefully crafted speech to try and convince the nation of the merits of this ‘political framework’ which was put together after an arrangement had been reached between the two main political parties: Parti Lepep and LDS.

To many of us, this came as a complete surprise as the subject of Regional Councils has not been discussed in the public domain before. Please note that in 2014 and 2015 there were discussions on the setting up of District Councils whereby consultations were carried out with stakeholders and members of the general public. This culminated in the Local Government Act 2015 which was signed into law in August 2015 by the then President James Michel. This particular act does not make mention of any Regional Council and specifically makes provision for the establishment of District Councils. The Act also specifies that Councillors will be elected. Nowhere in the act does the concept of nomination or selection come into the equation.

During the same weekend, many of us took comfort in seeing the chairperson of the Citizens Engagement Platform (Ceps) with his chief executive join the chairperson of Arid (the Association for Rights Information and Democracy) in a press conference decrying the fact that they who represent civil society were not consulted before the seven Regional Councils were imposed on the citizens of this country. Before I articulate the purpose of my letter to Sifco, I would like to make the following observations:

1-        As far as I am aware, at no point since 2015 has the Local Government Act (Act No. 7 of 2015) been amended to incorporate Regional Councils or to replace District Councils with Regional Councils. It would therefore follow that the establishment of these Regional Councils is not in accordance with the law.

2-        Article 24 of our constitution enshrines our right to participate in government. When you read the details of this particular article in our constitution, it becomes evident that this bi-partisan framework by two political parties without any consultation with other interest groups and stakeholders is an infringement on the rights of the many citizens who do not belong to either of the two political parties involved.

3-        Both the ruling party and the leader of LDS have tried to justify this bi-partisan arrangement on SBC and the print media by using the results of the 2016 National Assembly elections. However judging by the raging debate on social media, their act of persuasion has failed miserably for the following reasons :

a)        The argument that the results of the September 2016 National Assembly elections have been used to determine the balance of regional councillors in the seven regions is terribly flawed. One does not have to be a certified statistician to appreciate that nearly two years on, there will have been a shift in this balance given the changing political landscape. LDS has been fractured since February 2018. In any case the voting process is by secret ballot and who can ascertain for which political party citizens of this country voted for? The hard fact remains that every year, a number of first time voters will be added to the national register of voters. Since September 2016, I suspect that more than 2000 new voters are now eligible to vote and who did not vote in 2016. Who in this country has the right to marginalise and disenfranchise these young Seychellois?? Is this legally, constitutionally and more importantly morally right?

b)        Politicians have no right to speak on behalf of any citizen by assuming that each and every citizen belongs to a political party. This is false and goes against the very spirit of democracy.

4-        The Constitution as in most modern democracies is the supreme law of the land. It makes provision for three separate and independent arms of government : The Executive, The Legislative, and the Judiciary. These three arms of government have clear and well-defined functions under our constitution. The legislative has three main functions: law-making; oversight of the work of the Executive; and representation of the citizens who elected them into the National Assembly. Chapter 5 of our constitution defines very clearly the functions of the executive branch of government headed by an elected president. Articles 66 to 69 of the constitution articulates the process of setting up the executive.

Clearly the Ministry of Local Government is part and parcel of the executive arm of government. While the executive should cooperate with the other two arms of government to ensure that the machinery of government works in the interests of the citizens, there should be no interference by one arm of government into the functions of another. This bi-partisan framework as announced by Designated Minister Mondon is to my mind a clear interference of the politicians into the work of local government; which in my considered opinion is unconstitutional and morally wrong.

5-         In conclusion, let me explain the rationale for my letter to the chairperson and board members of Sifco. You have come together to promote inter-faith harmony and cooperation which is indeed laudable. You are there every June 29, praying with the nation and invoking the virtues of truth, love, peace and righteousness necessary ingredients for the continued development and prosperity of our beautiful country. I believe it is now important that the nation hears your views on this political bipartisan arrangement, which is divisive and goes against the very concept of inclusivity in our society. May I state that I believe Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohamed, Lord Budha, Baha’ullah, Lord Shiva, Mahatma Gandhi, etc and all the saints after them professed and stood for Truth and Righteousness. I am reminded of Edmund Burke’s famous quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Patrick Georges Pillay

Port Launay