Ramkalawan receives visit of Commonwealth S-G

SNP Leader Mr Wavel Ramkalawan received the visit of Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma last week. Discussions centered mainly on the political conditions in Seychelles, in particular those affecting fair and equitable participation in the political process and elections.

Mr. Sharma had specifically requested the meeting through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had not included the SNP Leader on the Commonwealth S-G’s programme. No mention of the meeting has been made in the state funded media, which in itself shows the biased and politically motivated handling of protocol on the part of the Ministry.

Mr. Ramkalawan noted that the Commonwealth association had always been a monitor of the democratization process in Seychelles, especially through the observer missions to elections. He pointed out that major recommendations of the missions remained to be addressed, such as access to state funded media for all political parties, separation of the machinery of government from the affairs of the ruling party and control of election spending. Nevertheless, Mr. Ramkalawan expressed his support for the participation of the Commonwealth in the presidential elections due next year. Mr. Sharma expressed the hope that an invitation from the Electoral Commissioner would be addressed early enough to have the most favourable consideration. This week, Mr. Ramkalawan also had talks with the US Ambassador to Seychelles, Mary Jo Wills.