From cohabitation to government of national unity |20 June 2020

AG Ally

By Vidya Gappy

President Danny Faure’s call for national unity and an inclusive government in his live televised address on Constitution Day has provoked a lot of debate within the political quarters, particularly ahead of the next presidential election.

Since such announcement, the president of One Seychelles party Alain St Ange has voiced his support for such call and Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) party has confirmed that President Faure’s call will be the subject of discussion at their next executive committee meeting.

A question that many citizens have asked is what does a national unity and inclusive government mean?

A national unity government, sometimes referred to as government of national unity (GNU), or national union government, is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the executive and legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.

President Faure’s call was made amid the difficulties that the country is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Faure explained that “faced with this national emergency,  a national unity and inclusive government is one opportunity to save Seychelles” and “the election coming this year will take place in unprecedented circumstances, unlike anything we have known before. It will take place in the midst of a great storm”.

In regards to the forthcoming presidential elections, President Faure said: “In this context, I do not see this as an election that ends with a winner and a loser. I do not see it as a competition between political rivals, where each one pretends that their party has better solutions for Seychelles. This moment that Seychelles is in is not a time for any party to create political divisions and confrontation. In this election, it is Seychelles that is important – it is our economic survival in question. I firmly believe that faced with this national emergency, we need to come together. It is for this reason that as a presidential candidate in the upcoming election, I will put in front of the Seychellois people the urgency of the next government being a government of national unity. This means an inclusive government that will better reflect our political, economic, professional and civic strengths and voices, so that we can successfully navigate this storm together as a nation. A government that puts partisan politics aside, where the only priority is to save Seychelles.”

In light of the President’s call for a national unity and inclusive government, Seychelles NATION spoke to the Attorney General, Frank Ally, on this new concept for our country.

According to the Attorney General “in view of the fact that our constitutional system is mostly based on the Washington model where there is a strict separation of powers among the organs of State, the President who is directly elected by the people has the liberty of selecting his ministers subject to approval of the National Assembly.  This permits the President to appoint any person as a minister based on his or her talent and competence. Therefore, once a person is offered a ministerial post by the President, it will depend entirely on the person, whether he or she will accept the office or not. We remember the appointment of Alain St Ange as Minister for Tourism who hailed from the opposition. With the support of his party, Mr St Ange was first appointed as chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board and thereafter he was chosen and appointed as minister.”

The Attorney General explained that one need not be a politician to be appointed minister. “In fact, there are one or two ministers in President Faure’s cabinet who are not members of the political party of the President and thus, they do not or are not expected to take part in political campaign of the party. They were appointed mostly for their talent and competence. However, constitutionally a minister is politically responsible for a ministry and the minister would ensure that the policies of the government are implemented. This is demonstrated by President Faure’s past candidates for ministers that he submitted to the National Assembly for approval namely Patrick Payet, Billy Rangasamy and Luciana Lagrenade,” he explained.

Attorney General Ally added that the call for a national unity government or a government of national unity is not a novelty. In his past Presidential campaigns, Philippe Boulle has often called for a national unity government.

“President Faure’s call will surely be well received in political quarters and we expect that in the days and weeks ahead, President Faure will start engaging with political leaders to concretise this idea.  If President Faure succeeds in his attempt, such a government will bring together a larger pool of talents and competence not only at ministerial level but also at other levels of government and will surely make government more efficient. 

“President Faure’s announcement comes as we are getting out of cohabitation and preparing for the forthcoming presidential elections. With such a call, President Faure has surely surprised many.  It, surely begs the question if the people of Seychelles would be ready and prepared for such a government. We expect that in the next few days and weeks President Faure will give more details of his call and his preparation to concretise the idea.

“What is clear from President Faure’s announcement is that he wants to define government for our country and when he leaves office he wants to do so ‘en beauté’ or on a high note,” AG Ally concluded.

Vidya Gappy

Did you know?

In order to handle the affairs of their country properly, these countries have had to have a national unity government at some point in their history: Afghanistan, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Namibia, Nepal, Palestine, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, United Kingdom, Quasi-national governments, and Zimbabwe.