TALK IS CHEAP - James Michel and his "politik bon marse"

Talk about talking till you are blue in the face! It would seem that Seychelles President James Michel is following in the footsteps of Hugo Chavez on a talking marathon… As Minister for Information, he has all the state media stooges lined up like ducks in a row to be present at his every beck and call. The propaganda machine is in major overdrive and heating up like the PUC generators with the risk of self destructing. The man is everywhere! There is no doubt that he is obsessed with his own image. As he changes shirt from a day at pressing the flesh of yet another dignitary summoned to hand him a few laurels for his ‘vision’ at State House, he heads off to bask in the limelight of finally being handed the final baton of his ‘born again’ party. He is now in total control and can do exactly what his old mentor has been doing since 1993 – blurring the lines between the political party and the workings of government. Now firmly in control of ‘Parti Lepep’, Jame Misel (as he is affectionately called by FAR) will try to pull a few more rabbits out of his hat with the help of his state controlled media.

And the man is desperate to talk. He has set up several rounds of talk shops in the districts which are now beating the ratings of the famous telenovellas. He appears on our screens more than 95% during prime time television (news) and has embarked on a campaign to try and erase the blunders that he is prone to committing day in and day out. There are so many charades that they themselves cannot keep up with – ‘En rankont ek prezidan’, State House newsletter, Rising Sun, Isola Bella, Seychelles Nation, SBC radio, television, Paradise FM, The People, People Plus…  We have a media orgy trying desperately to prop up a lame president - North Korean style. Michel is a master at conducting ‘politik bonmarse’ which he is constantly accusing the opposition (and basically all those that see him as a puppet of Albert Rene) of. He has been given the massive, impossible task of covering up all the mess and chaos that the dictatorial regime of his mentor has left for this new generation to sort out.

We all know that Michel was part of this regime and he is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was very much the carpenter executing the architect’s master plan but now wants to make another attempt at being his own man under a new ‘Lepep’ banner. His hands are clean he tells us; the young traitor holding the AK-47 machine gun on June 5^th 1977 was his double. The lame Minister of Finance who led the country into bankruptcy is long forgotten. He is now the new kid on the block and wants to be judged by his actions. But the evidence is clear. This old lot that is pretending to be a new bunch have failed ‘Lepep’ miserably.

With all the talking, ‘Lepep’ is saying that their ears are full but their stomachs are empty. Michel tries to talk the people out of its misery.  A misery that he has perpetrated since 5^th June 1977.  Today things are out of control. ‘Kapten in file’ and ‘bosin Misel’ is desperately trying to bring the ship to shore in shark infested waters with a cyclone looming overhead. The sun always shines on TV but with all his militant firebrand and pitiful demeanour, the man is not cut to lead this country and he knows it.

This guy can talk! And he will keep on talking as he is desperate to try and convince his dwindling supporters from seeing the truth that is catching up so fast with him. Now that the man in whose heart the ‘Manifesto Lepep’ was written, is about to conk out, Misel is feeling lonely out there without a compass. Even Albert in his interview said that Misel was alone out there.  He is now renewing his ‘langazman’ towards ‘Lepep’ with all his honesty, sincerity and hard work. Talk about ‘politik bonmarse’…