The Constitution of our country provides for the organisation of elections in the Seychelles. Its provisions stipulate the qualifications to be a candidate or voter, the term of tenure of office, and the period during which an election has to be held if the term is fully served by the incumbent. The Constitution goes further to give the President the power to dissolve the National Assembly or personally resign, thus to call for early elections.
Many countries have the same system as ours. Until recently, the UK was one such example where the Prime Minister could call snap elections. We remember how Mrs. Thatcher did so, and won after the Falklands War. The UK system has now changed, and instead they have adopted the US system whereby the date of the election is fixed. Every American knows that on the 19th November every 4 years, Presidential elections are held, and on Martin Luther King Day in January, the elected president is sworn in.
There is much to be said in favour of the American system, and the newly adopted UK system. The most important aspect is political stability. There is no speculation as to when the elections will be held and all the parties are given the same amount of time for preparation. No one has a trump card, businesses can plan ahead, and the population is not held hostage by any group of politicians.
When you compare that to what we have experienced in our short history since the return to multi-party democracy, I can only describe it as 17 years of speculation, uncertainty and doubt. In 1993 and 1998, both Presidential and National Assembly elections were held together. But then Mr. René decided to call for early Presidential elections in 2001. This meant the two were no longer held together.
Later the ruling party decided to dissolve the National Assembly. Then we had Mr. René step down and hand over to Mr Michel, who in turn, barely one year later dissolved Parliament in order to get what he described as a ‘serious Assembly.’ The result was the Seychellois voted for an Assembly with the same representation, to the great disappointment of Mr. Michel.
Today the same doubts abound. We all know that there will be presidential election by the month of May. However, three months before the event, no one knows the dates. Just imagine if a football team about to play a most important final is simply told to prepare itself, but the date of the game will be announced later! The Electoral Commissioner proudly announced that his committee would decide on the date since last week, but so far nothing has come out from his office.
The truth is he is also in doubt, and he is taking precautions just in case the President decides to dissolve the National Assembly, just as he did in 2006, after he had made his speech on the State of the Nation. So he doesn’t know whether he will be organising two elections or one. This surely says a lot about the very state of this nation.
I believe that our country needs to have greater stability in the way elections are organised. For one, I believe the time an election can be held should not lie in the hands of politicians. The date for Presidential elections should be a fixed date at the end of the term, and the transition process provided for. And if the president decides to step down, then his Vice-President should step in. The President cannot play with the country as if it is his personal little toy.
It is also high time that our country realises that it cannot leave one of the most important components of our democracy in the hands of one man: an electoral commissioner. We need a Constitutional amendment to provide for an Independent Electoral Commission. Greater transparency is required. It will only give greater confidence to our people in electoral procedures that will lead to free and fair elections.
And so, the people face the most important decision in their democracy with doubts that are completely unnecessary. This election is also about eliminating such doubts in the future, for a system with greater transparency and participation. This is part of the choice before the people of Seychelles in 2011. Let us rise to greater heights. I know we can.
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