A Seychelles where Everyone is a Winner: Votes Must Not Be For Sale.

Money is a powerful weapon. But it is immoral to use money in some cases. One of them is to buy votes for an election.

I have no doubt that we will see a lot of this tactic. It has been used in previous elections and it will be used again. But Seychellois now know that when they sell their vote, it is bought with their own money. If it is like in the past, the bill will come later as it did after the 2007 elections when the IMF had to be called in.

We can already see the distribution of goods and contracts taking place. The money for this comes from the Seychellois people, in one way or another. Take the proposed renovation of the Social Security Building. In the past, this kind of contract was given just before an election to refund a friendly contractor for a contribution it has made to the SPPF campaign.

When Government money is used to give some things to some people, the money has been taken directly from the people. Every citizen has a right to services or facilities that is available from Government funds, whether it is building materials, loans or welfare assistance. These things are not gifts from a candidate or a political party. They are from the wealth that we have created for the nation through all our work. So, people can accept these things with a free conscience. They should never see this as an obligation to one candidate or a party.

Then there may be money or gifts distributed from private funds. These too, in the end, are paid for by the people themselves. Even if it is provided by rich Arab sheikhs, it has only been provided in return for what Seychelles offers. It is our land and the beauty of our islands and surrounding ocean that are the bargaining chips for this money. You may not have given these precious treasures away, but somebody else has given away things which belonged to you.

Seychellois must not let the outcome of the elections be decided by goods. If a voter is offered goods which he needs, there is nothing wrong in accepting. But it would be wrong to make such things the condition for a vote. Instead, Seychellois should ask what we have been through in the past five years.

Seychellois should see any kind of bargaining for their vote as an affront to their dignity. Your vote is sacred and has no price.

Money has always been a factor in every election that we have had. The ruling party derives an enormous advantage from their control of government finances and from private cash. But despite this, the SNP has reached almost 50% of the vote in previous elections. This is proof that money does not rule everything or everyone.

The vote is there for people to decide the future of their country. People have to remember the past. If they have suffered for five years, they should not forget all of it when some goods are offered. As our well-known Creole saying portrays it, such gifts are only a taste of honey to mask the vinegar of the past five years.

Young people especially must bear in mind that money for a day of fun will not be a substitute for a future. A piece of land in your home country to build your own home in the future is more important than a gift given to influence your vote.

Our people know what is right and what is wrong. I am very confident they will do what is right.