SNP Women’s Organisation Elects New Leaders

The SNP Women’s Organisation held its Annual Convention yesterday, Sunday November 29, 2010 at the International Conference Centre, Victoria, under the theme: ‘Fanm Seselwa, Ralye Pour Lavenir’.

Regina Alcindor, a long standing official of the SNP and formerly the MNA for Glacis, was elected Chairperson and replaces Priscilla Julie in that role.  Jourdanne Ernesta was elected Vice-Chairperson, Jacqueline Noel, Secretary, and Desheila Bastienne was re-elected Treasurer. The rest of the organisation’s executive committee is made up of regional representatives who have been elected by members from their region.

On behalf of the new committee and the organisation, Mrs. Alcindor said women needed to be more prominent in political work and in assuming roles of responsibility. “The concerns of women reflect the concerns of the family and community,” Mrs Alcindor said, “The SNP is responding to the urgent needs of the country when it addresses the concerns of women.”  

Mrs Alcindor noted that the SNP had achieved a landmark in choosing a woman, Annette Georges, to be the vice-presidential nominee for two presidential elections. This had established that the SNP was committed to gender balance. Mrs. Alcindor noted the obstacles that women faced in taking a front role in politics, mainly because of fear of victimisation. She said she would work to make the SNP a party for women.

SNP leader Wavel Ramkalawan addressed the members of the organisation, thanking them for their contribution in the work of the party and said he was counting on them to make a very valuable contribution to politics.

Mr. Ramkalawan said the SNP mission today was to stand for the poor and the weak. “Seychelles is becoming more and more a society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The SNP will work to redress the balance.” he said.

Our Country... Our Future: A Case For ex-RFA Sailors

Next week, Seychelles will be welcoming Princess Anne of Great Britain. The official visit will certainly be an occasion to highlight our ties with the UK, which are long-standing and have always been cordial.

Despite the historical fact of colonialism, which extended to our islands, Seychelles does not have any grievance with Great Britain. Unlike most other countries of the empire, our islands only came into existence as a colony, without any native population. And colonial rule was benign rather than oppressive. The claim has sometimes been made that Seychellois suffered under colonial rule, but there is no need to falsify history in this context.

What the visit of the Princess should highlight on the other hand is the role that Seychellois people have played in the British institutions, in particular in the defence forces. In comparison to its small size, Seychellois served in great numbers in the armed forces of Great Britain in the context of the two world wars, in other theatres and during the cold war. Only two weeks ago, we commemorated the sacrifice of Seychellois lives in the ceremony at Mont Fleuri.

The association worked both ways of course, because many young men and women (much fewer) went for service in the armed forces as a career opening. It was a way to see more of the world and find work opportunities that did not exist at home. But the work was not always well-paid, and today I want to take up the cause of one group, the men (unfortunately no women) who served in the Royal Forces Auxilliary (RFA)  vessels, usually referred to as ‘tankers’.

This is not a new cause. I raised in the National Assembly recently in a motion calling for Government to pursue their case. This was supported by both sides of the House, so it is not a partisan cause.

There are about 115 ex-RFA sailors living in Seychelles today. They served in vessels which delivered supplies to the British Navy, in connection with the Suez crisis, the Korean War an in the Cold War peiod. These men were poorly paid compared to their British counterparts and they left without any gratuity or compensation. In fact, their service has never been recognised as that of other members of the armed forces has been. And although they did not carry arms or take part in fighting, they were an essential part of operations and their lives were often in danger.

The case has been raised for these personnel to be awarded some form of service recognition, by way of a pension or gratuity. Some former servicemen have been pursuing their cause through efforts of their own.  Recently, the Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepted that there may be a case to be made for them.

I am raising this issue on the occasion of the visit of Princess Anne because it is a part of the relationship between our two countries, which certainly will be referred to during the visit. But I also think it is the right time for the Seychelles authorities to take up the matter through the proper channels. Many such issues have been settled in the past, and I believe it is a question of doing justice to those who served. 

I hope the visit will also be an occasion to recognise and honour those who served to cement that special relationship between Great Britain and Seychelles – a relationship which endured not so much because of the work of politicians but of ordinary men and women like the ex-RFA sailors.

Our Country... Our Future: Benefits in voting SNP

The district of Anse Etoile has had two visits in a couple of short weeks from President James Michel. I have to consider it an honour. Although he might not have wanted to, Mr. Michel has given Anse Etoile his attention.

Voters of my district will know that they are getting this attention because they have elected the leader of the SNP to represent them. This is more than the other districts have got, including the ones with long standing SPPF-Parti Lepep members. The only other district that has had two visits, but farther apart, is Baie Ste. Anne. But there again, it is only because I myself have visited Baie Ste. Anne more than a dozen times this year. It is quite something to have Mr. Michel following in my footsteps.

What people should realise by all this is that it is the SNP which drives the Parti Lepep. This is true in other ways as well, apart from those visits. In the last decade, politics in Seychelles has been driven by the SNP. Parti Lepep follows our ideas and proposals and reacts. Mr. Michel’s reforms, which he speaks so proudly of, are really only the principles and proposals re-hashed from the SNP manifesto of previous years. Where they have been applied correctly, in some cases, they have turned out well. In many cases, they have not been applied correctly, and therefore there is much work to be done still by the SNP.

The last time Mr. Michel visited Anse Etoile, I informed him of the many problems  that he needed to see for himself – families that had suffered, roads that were in bad need of repair, areas that needed lighting and so on. He has returned to see some of these but not nearly all. He still travels with four jeeploads of bodyguards and officials. Ordinary people cannot even get close to him – only those who have been prepared in advance for the visit.  On the last round for instance, a farmer who tried to approach the presidential group was rudely turned away by the bodyguards.

A Man of the People? I don’t think so! I don’t see why the President of a small country like ours should need such a huge retinue when he goes around. Mr. Michel knows that all that security apparatus is unnecessary. He does not need to be afraid of his own people, and dropping all that huge following, including the heavily armed ones, will help him get closer to the problems, which is what he needs to do. It would also spare the country a lot of expense. With all the voluntary departures and redundancies, the only place where we have not seen any cutbacks yet is in the presidential entourage and privileges. Instead it continues to grow and supplementary budgets are sought for the increases.

I would also like to see Mr. Michel do a visit for the sake of the people who live there, and not for television. The sincerity of the visits will be in doubt as long as there is a television crew, if not two, along with him. When this happens, we know that he is doing it for the cameras.

I am very pleased that in the press release that followed the visit, he described Anse Etoile as being ‘a big district with a lot of need for houses and roads.’ Together with the people of the district I am hoping that more than 5 families will get a house at Perseverans. I also hope that the distribution will not be along political lines, but rather according to the needs of the residents.

I must however also add that when he visits and issues a press release, it must be the truth. For example when he says that he went to see families who had requested his visit after his previous one, it is not the truth. Some families had not written to him and of course they were surprised when they were informed they would get a visit.

I am also disappointed because in both visits, he failed to go up to the La Gogue dam to see the water situation for himself. He was in the vicinity, so why did he fail to do so? I cannot understand why he chose to ignore the most important issue facing our people today.

Anse Etoile needs action now. We await the orders that Mr. Michel will give to make things happen. My presence has caused him to visit. This is not good enough. We need positive action so that our children don’t get home after 4 because of the bus service; we need lights so that the women of the district can walk home safely without fear. The promises of new roads have been noted and we hope that these projects will start soon.

I have managed to attract Mr. Michel to Anse Etoile. The residents have seen him on TV. Let those visits not be only for his own politics. I shall continue with my own visits and I will constantly remind him of what has not been done. Anse Etoile residents can now see the benefits of voting SNP.