Last week, I published a letter calling on Sheikh Khalifa of Abu Dhabi to refrain from making donations for the political campaign of the ruling party. This is an issue that we take very seriously because it can distort the electoral process to the extent of threatening democracy and freedom itself.
Much is being made of the gifts that Sheikh Khalifa has given and will give in the future to Seychelles. I welcome a foreign country assisting Seychelles in its development and the possibility for Seychellois to earn from foreign investment projects. But in every case, we have to look at the strings attached. What is never acceptable however is if any foreign power interferes in the political process through funding a political party.
When it comes to political donations, Seychellois should know the danger it brings. First, there is a direct connection with the way the SPPF have spent money for elections in the past and the hardship that Seychelles faces today. It can be easily seen that the crash we experienced in 2008 was precipitated by the huge amount of spending for the 2006 and 2007 elections. This is when state coffers were emptied. The result was Government could not pay its debts and ran out of money to meet its own expenses. The subsequent devaluation had to be very painful because we had reached the bottom of the pit. This brought a harsh rise in prices and more taxes.
Now we expect that Mr. Michel will be looking for money for the coming elections and the source will be the Arab princes who taken up so much of Seychelles. There also we have to look at the strings attached.
There is no such thing as free money. What we get from any source will be repaid somehow. Where much is given, much will be handed over in return. What Mr. Michel will give has been made clear already. It will be land, sovereignty, subjection to foreign power and business opportunities.
Land and sovereignty are the most precious possessions of a nation. In our case we have little enough of both that we must guard them zealously. It is pointless making a lot of money today if you have to give up what is most precious for you, that is, what makes Seychelles your country. The most sacred mission of the SNP today is to keep Seychelles to be your country in the future.
I believe that Seychelles can have a bright future, where its citizens are able to earn, acquire wealth and build a country that they are proud of. This must allow them to remain in ownership of their country and preserve it so that their children have the same Seychelles that they enjoyed.
Money that a foreign power gives the ruling party will only go into waste and extravaganza. It will be used to finance parties and to pay off those who can be bought. It will be there one day and gone tomorrow. It may make a few persons rich, but it will leave most of our people with less in the future.
I am calling on Seychellois to look beyond the quick fix of a little money in your pocket today towards a better future. A country, like a person, has to work to build something worthwhile. We can be helped but we cannot count on foreign powers to hand us gifts on a platter and expect that in the end it will be good for us. I am sure that our people will see that our country is not for sale.
No comments:
Post a Comment