State-of-the-nation address (Sona) 2021: Assembly leaders give their replies |26 January 2021

Hon. Pillay

Following President Wavel Ramkalawan’s first state-of-the-nation address on Friday January 22, members of the National Assembly yesterday responded with their views and reactions to the speech which he delivered only 89 days into his presidency.

‘The Sona lacks a clear sense of direction to assure the nation,’ says Hon. Sebastien Pillay, leader of the opposition

As is customary, the session started off with leader of the opposition (Loto) in the National Assembly Sebastien Pillay, who from the onset remarked that President Ramkalawan missed an opportunity for national unity and failed to inform citizens of the present state of the nation, leaving it up to citizens to pull together and to be resilient and determined to overcome the difficulties the country is facing.

Throughout his response, Hon. Pillay questioned the decision-making capacity of President Ramkalawan’s government, who through last Friday’s address fell short in informing and inspiring a sense of national unity among citizens, he said, and lacked a clear sense of direction to assure the nation that the government has a concrete plan to address the economic downturn and other pressing matters such as cost of living, the methadone programme, unemployment and citizenship.

“It was not clear what real plans the government has, with the aim of addressing the situation in a concrete way, and the President of the Republic spent over one hour scolding us, rather than talking about Seychelles and Seychellois,” Hon. Pillay said, describing President Ramkalawan’s statement about “inheriting a broken carriage” as an insult to all public servants and citizens working dedicatedly to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and to keep the country afloat.

“The real state of our nation is one where our people are living with much uncertainty. The number of Covid-19 cases keeps increasing. The state of our nation is one whereby the most worried fear that the new government does not have their best interests at heart, one where businesses and the private sector are questioning government. The state of our nation is one where many public servants are not sure whether they will lose their employment, the state of our nation is one whereby ministers make statements that then have to be addressed. It is this that the president should address,” said Hon. Pillay.

With regards to the Covid-19 community transmission outbreak as of late December 2020, Hon. Pillay conveyed dissatisfaction on behalf of his party, United Seychelles (US), at the way the new administration is dealing with the recent outbreak.

Moreover, Hon. Pillay proposed that President Ramkalawan’s statement that US are merely ‘inciting’ citizens in pressing for lockdown and in questioning the government’s Covid-19 and national immunisation strategy, is worrying in the democratic sense, leading him to further question the administration’s motives with regard to liberty of expression, a fundamental right to which every citizen, and US, as a political party, is entitled.

“Now that the rupee has been devaluated by 70 percent, an egg costs R4.50 and many families are struggling to make ends meet, now is not the time to play with people’s bellies,” added Hon. Pillay.

“Government’s economic measures need to be clearer. The uncertain climate created by government itself does not help anyone. Vague statements do not inspire confidence. There was R427 million in reserves when LDS came into power, and by January 22, there was R397 million, meaning the safe is not empty[…]. In this difficult time, I hope that the government can make its plan clearer as to how Seychellois can put a plate of food on our table,” Hon. Pillay added.

Among the propositions he set before the assembly are for government to make a more detailed declaration about the Financial Assistance for Job Retention (FA4JR) and private sector businesses benefitting from the scheme, which the President on Friday announced is to be axed as from April 2021.

Moreover, Hon. Pillay proposed that clear, detailed plans with regards to the restructuring of the public service needs to be laid before the assembly and Seychellois public, as well as information about whether government intends to opt for another International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic reform programme.

In response to the President’s request that the assembly debate on the Air Seychelles debt saga to aid in decision-making on the national carrier’s future, Hon. Pillay proposed that government is in a better position to do so as the assembly lacks the relevant information, but that it should have had a say with regard to the announcement that the board of the independent entity, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS), is to be dissolved and the entity dissolved within a year if it fails to produce satisfactory outcomes.

Although he agreed that stricter conditions must be enforced with regard to gainful occupation permits (GOP), Hon. Pillay proposed that a policy, as announced by the President, is inadequate, suggesting that conditions be incorporated into a legal framework towards more transparency.

As for the final warning issued by President Ramkalawan to drug traffickers, Hon. Pillay seemed to support the course of action, also proposing that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) be mandated to carry out investigations to compliment the work of other enforcement agencies, and that the Anti-Narcotics Bureau (ANB) be reformed into an independent entity which functions under a legal framework.

In wrapping up, Hon. Pillay highlighted sectors and domains on which government should communicate its plans and objectives, namely, fisheries and agriculture in relation to food security, food importation, domestic production and manufacturing, and the European Union (EU) fishing partnership agreement, plans for the education sector which has been severely disrupted by the Covid-19 outbreaks and matters relating to the inner islands.

‘President Ramkalawan has set out clearly and honestly the present state of the nation,’ says Hon. Bernard Georges, leader of government business

Contrary to Honourable Pillay, leader of government (LGB) Bernard Georges praised President Ramkalawan for having set out clearly and honestly the present state of the nation and for successfully mapping out to the public the direction that the country is moving towards, in the face of the pandemic, economic downturn, rising unemployment and business closures.

“The Sona is an audit of the past, and a map of the future. Based on that interpretation, the President has not failed. The President fulfilled and discharged his function, and as we all saw, this message was different as compared to the 26 previous Sonas, and this was absolutely appropriate. When a head of state marks a change of direction in a country, they need to lead on the form and depth, the form of the message, and content of the message,” Hon. Georges said.

He defended the President’s choice to address the nation somewhat informally, “but with honesty, realistically, and without sugar-coating it”, in a bid to shock and get the nation to realise how imperative it is to change presently, rather than to mislead them as to the real state of affairs.

In his response, Hon. Georges was firm in echoing the words of President Ramkalawan in saying that politics need to be eliminated from public service, urging all public servants to deliver and embrace the change, at least for the next four years and nine months when the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) administration is in power.

“The main theme of the President’s address was that the change that the Seychellois population decided to initiate in October 2020, is one whereby our country is coming out, as it needs for economic reasons to come out of, as well for the construction of a strong nation, it needs to come out of a welfare system which we have lived for 40 years, whereby all responsibilities fell on the government’s shoulders, and employed or not employed, everyone was supported by the national budget, towards a system whereby each citizen is called to take their individual responsibility and get what they need, not by filling out a welfare application form but by getting up and working. In one phrase, this is the change and this is the philosophy of the new administration,” Hon. Georges stated, noting that there should be exceptions to the rule and not substitutions.

In continuing, Hon. Georges further justified the President’s somewhat ‘harshʼ address as imperative during this economic crisis which has once again confronted leaders with the reality of a fragile economy, based only on a few key pillars. He further called for citizens to be resilient, respectful, to display a good attitude, to be hardworking and to act responsibly to gradually aid in rebuilding the economy, addressing social ills and overcoming the challenges presented by the pandemic for long-term results.

“If we do this, we will have a tomorrow where the sun will rise. If we don’t do this, we will continue to be enclosed in darkness. And the dark cloud will return. But the President cannot do this alone, LDS cannot do this alone. Which is why at the end of his address, he called out for national unity,” he added.

With regard to Air Seychelles, Hon. Georges alluded to the national carrier’s importance for external connectivity with key economic markets, reminding the assembly of the airline’s instrumental role during the 2020 inbound travel ban whereby it was involved in cargo hauls and special repatriation and chartered flights.

He remarked, however, that the organisation is a money-sucking trap and has through international routes been unprofitable for a long while, and should therefore be carefully considered by the assembly to save the airline and tourism industry. The responsibility remitted to the assembly to discuss the matter is especially important, he said, expressing his wish for the assembly to debate at length on the matter, as implications include unemployment for Air Seychelles employees, as well as negotiations to repay troubled debt to foreign bondholders, or possibly restructuring the company.

In relation to the warning issued to drug traffickers, Hon. George addressed the constituents of Les Mamelles, one of the most drug-afflicted districts in Seychelles, to reform and rehabilitate through state-run programmes, once again iterating President Ramkalawan’s message that such acts will not be tolerated at any cost.

“The country is faced with four main challenges presently. All four are like pandemics to our country, and all four have to be addressed at the soonest. They are Covid-19, drugs, corruption and no performance in our public service,” Hon. Georges said.

He noted that to address these there is a need to implement measures towards restructuring, eliminating unnecessary expenditure, cut-backs on what can’t be afforded presently including FA4JR and to some extent Air Seychelles, letting go of those who do not wish to work for this administration or who undermine government, addressing corruption in public service, attacking drugs and corruption, and through individual responsibility of each citizen, towards the destination laid out by President Ramkalawan.

Laura Pillay