A Grand Exercise in Deception

The District consultative meetings of President Michel

Now that the curtain has fallen on the comedy in 25 acts to cover the districts, where President James Michel of Seychelles and his ‘team’ were facing the ‘people’ to speak about the future of our country, it is time to assess what has really come out of these meetings.

We all know that this was carefully orchestrated with the huge help of Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) to get Michel and his government to gauge the political support that they currently hold in the districts after the decision to embark on the IMF program. As he tried to reassure the public in all the districts that the reforms were on the right track, he could not escape the various criticisms being dished out left, right and centre about the failings of his government since he has assumed power. So instead of focusing on talking about the future of the country, Michel and his team were confronted about the inefficiencies of his government in all sectors. The message coming out was very clear. The SPPF and now Lepep Party has failed the people for the past 3 decades. The present needs to be fixed fast before he can get any support in the future.

Michel calls it a grand exercise in democracy. How ironic when people are denied their democratic rights under the constitution (freedom of association etc…) and then he decides that meeting with a handful of mostly his own supporters in the districts constitutes democracy. It would be best to call it a grand exercise in deception as the sole purpose of these meetings was to deceive the people into believing that everything was fine, the economy was doing well under the reforms, currency was stabilizing, we need to unite etc…

Unfortunately, for those who have been following the SPPF throughout their history in power, it has always been about lies, deception and ‘bat latet’. The reforms that we have embarked on will take us more than 15 years before we see any light at the end of the tunnel. But not even a year on, Michel chooses to distort the facts by claiming that we are already there! And according to him, we will be out of this in no time. Many will remember when he came out after his first election to declare that ‘nou lekonomi y solid’. We were very far from the truth. While behind the scenes, the pillaging and siphoning off of funds were going on to reward the architects of the revolution; the people were being deceived into believing that all was well. Today, Rene, Mukesh, Sarah, Ramadoss, Savy brothers, Leopold Payet, and many others are living the lives of millionaires while the people of Seychelles return to poverty not known since the British days.

Michel was somehow voted in with another mandate (after spending millions of funds including our own social security reserves) and he declared arrogantly that he did not need the opposition to run the country. ‘Kile lopozisyon, les Jj travay!’ Now that the situation has turned on its head, Michel is out to deceive again. He wants unity; he is calling on every Tom, Dick and Francis to ‘Koste’ so that we can chart the course of a new Seychelles. He now needs everyone on board as it is in the interest of his own political survival. Michel cannot be trusted. He will manipulate any situation to his own advantage and has a total lack of sincerity. Who can trust a man who helped Rene gain power via a violent coup d’etat and then declared that his hands are clean? Who can trust a man who helped Rene and his cohorts to rob the country of billions of dollars while he was Minister of Finance? Who can trust a man who let Francis ChangLeng, the Central Bank of Seychelles Governor, steal millions from the State coffers?

Michel has now realized that things ‘on the ground’ are far worse than he feared. His closing address at the Bel Ombre meeting (which by the way was a gross abuse of state funded television air time) seemed like a desperate rallying call to all his dwindling middle leadership and supporters to double their efforts and reach out to the Lepep that they have lost touch with since his last election. The economic reforms are already the writing on the wall for the demise of Michel and his clan. A president who does not have much to do than to listen to problems in respective districts shows how much work he has on his agenda! He is perhaps slowly realizing how much he has lost touch with his people and how inefficient his government has become. As he tries to turn to the people to guide his leadership, he is confronted with problems, problems and more problems. From rubbish bins to basic lighting in districts, to an inefficient bus service and district administrators that work for their own pockets. Is this the future?

Another exercise to visit the districts soon? I don’t think so. He will be better off receiving dignitaries by the loads and try to look presidential… while waiting on the leader of the opposition to come along for tea so that he can weave his web of deception and try to come out as the leader who can unite the people of Seychelles.

James Michel lacks the intelligence, vision and integrity to take this country beyond party politics towards a healthy recovery for the benefit of our future generations. He is part of the stock that violated the constitution in 1977 and cannot preach democracy on a moral high ground. His grand exercise will always remain one of DECEPTION as he was part of the group that dismantled democracy in our country and replaced it with inefficiency, an impotent judiciary, and three decades of misery for its citizens. UNITY is beyond him and his legacy will always be one of a “deceptive thief in the night”.