LDS maintains objection to political party name similar to its own |24 July 2018

Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) has expressed its continued objection to the registration of a political party under the name Lafors Sosyal Demokratik, with the acronym LSD.

In a communiqué sent to the press, the LDS writes:

“LDS maintains that this name has been chosen with malicious intent to mislead the general public in regards to statements and actions by its officers which would be confused with those of LDS. The confusion will also extend to news reporting and public discourse generally but also in the electoral process if the party takes part in elections under that name.

“LDS believes that the Court of Appeal was wrong in its decision to overturn rulings in the Supreme Court prohibiting the use of the name. It failed to take into account the reality of politics and the intent of the persons registering the political party.

“LDS has always based its position on a clear provision in the Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) Act which states in Article 7 (b) that the Electoral Commission may refuse to register a political party if its name ‘so nearly resembles the name of a political party whose application precedes the present application as to be likely to deceive the members of the party or the public.’

“This article clearly envisages that registration of the name of a political party may be used with intent to confuse and mislead. In its judgement, the Court of Appeal failed to give any consideration to this article, which applies so obviously to the situation regarding LDS.

“The intent of the persons in using the name and its acronym LSD is evident when we consider that they first attempted to register their party under the name ‘Linyon Sanzman’ when this name had been in common use by the parties which later formed LDS. They changed the name to Lafors Sosyal Demokratik (LSD) after LDS was registered.

“The Court of Appeal also made much of the point that the acronyms should not be taken into consideration because the law refered specifically to the full name not the acronym, while the Supreme Court ruling had refered to the acronym. It is the reality that the acronym is an integral part of the name and is what is most frequently used in the political context.

“LDS will assess the present implications of the renewed registration and will decide on what course it will take on this issue.”

It was on Friday that the acting chairperson of the Electoral Commission Bernard Elizabeth announced that the commission had approved the re-registration of LSD as this satisfies the requirements of the Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) Act.

He said the commission has re-registered the party exactly as when it was first submitted for registration in 2016 noting that apart from its acronym which was an issue, all its documents were in order.

The leader of the party is Charles Jimmy Gabriel, its secretary general is Sharon Joan Moses, its treasurer Jean-Yves Damien Sinon, while Sara Daniella Denousse and Carol Dubel are members.

Mr Gabriel told the SBC on Friday that the party will take part in the next election as it feels there is a need for another political  force.

He said they are following political developments closely and feel that the cohabitation process is not taking us far.

He said for the time being the party will maintain the same name but will in the future consider a change of name.