OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE
16.06.2011
CABINET RESOLUTION
The Cabinet of Ministers has resolved to present the amendments to the Constitution and amendments to the Elections Act to the National Assembly in order to create an Electoral Commission. The amendments will be debated in the National Assembly on 28th June.
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution gives provisions to Article 115 for the creation of an Electoral Commission of three members, of which one is a Chairman.
The Commission would be appointed in the same manner as the Constitutional Appointments Authority in order to ensure its independence and the fairness in appointment of members.
Therefore one member is appointed by the President of the Republic, one member is appointed by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, and these two members jointly appoint the third member who becomes the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.
The Cabinet of Ministers consulted the 2009 Constitutional Review Report for the inclusion views from the members of the Constitutional Review Committee, which were;
Mr Francis CHANG-SAM, Attorney-At-Law Chairman
Mrs Marie-Louise POTTER, Leader of Government Business Member
(or designated representative: Mr. Willaim Herminie)
Mr Wavel RAMKALAWAN, Leader of the Opposition Member
(or designated representative: Mr. Bernard Georges)
Mr Anthony FERNANDO, Attorney General Member
Mr Jeremie BONNELAME, Chairman, Constitutional Appointment
Authority Member
Mr Gustave DODIN, Ombudsman Member and Chairman of the Human Rights Commission
Mr Albert PAYET, Chairman SCCI Member
Mr Philippe BOULLE, Attorney-At-Law Member
Mr Bernard ELIZABETH, Chairman, Lungos Member
Ms Cheryl VENGADASAMY, Speaker, National Youth Assembly Member
Ms Elizabeth CHARLES, Director International Cooperation, Ministry
of Finance Secretary
The Committee made the following recommendation;
“Article 115(Electoral Commissioner)
The Committee recommends the establishment of an Electoral Commission in place of the present Electoral Commissioner. The Committee proposes that the Commission be composed of three members, appointed on the recommendation of the Constitutional Appointments Authority. As a result throughout articles 115 and 116 Electoral Commissioner should be replaced by electoral Commission.”
The Cabinet noted this recommendation, however it proposed that a more direct system of appointment would be more effective, whereby the views of the President and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly would be clearly exhibited in endorsing the Electoral Commission, and thereby ensuring political stability in this process.
The Cabinet also noted the Seychelles National Party’s motion to create an Electoral Reform Commission by the National Assembly this week.
The Cabinet is of the view that the Constitutional Review Committee had already discussed the pertinent issues in detail and made their recommendations. Therefore, to create an Electoral Reform Commission as proposed by the SNP would duplicate and unnecessarily delay the development of the democratic process in Seychelles. The 6th Amendment of the Constitution would allow the establishment of an Electoral Commission, whose powers would allow it to address all the issues at stake in an all inclusive manner.
President James Michel has asked members of the National Assembly to work together for the consolidation of democracy, and he reiterated his call for everyone to work in the spirit of national unity.
During his May 24th inaugural address, the President said:
“We need men and women of goodwill to overcomes the challenges that lie ahead. We need to put aside our political and ideological differences so that we can progress as a people. It is time for us to stop mixing politics with everything that we do. It is time for us to consider our brothers and sisters who may not share the same opinions as we do, not as our enemies, but as Seychellois who are also contributing to the future of our country, even if we remain political adversaries. Adversaries where it concerns certain things, but also as colleagues with whom we can work; a brother or sister Seychellois with whom we can share much and who can work with us for the good of our country. We must, all of us, in the spirit of national unity and solidarity, put shoulder to shoulder and work towards one goal: a better future for this New Seychelles.”
Editor’s Note
Examples of appointments of electoral commissions/committees around the world:
· In India, the world’s largest democracy, the President appoints the 3 members of Electoral Commission (Chief Election Commission and two Election Commissioners).
· In South Africa, the Independent Electoral Commission is made up of 5 members that are appointed by President on recommendation of National Assembly based on nominations by an inter-party committee.
· In Mauritius, the Electoral Supervisory Commission consists of a Chairperson and seven members. The President makes the appointments, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, after the latter has consulted with the Leader of the Opposition.
· In Norway, which is ranked no. 1 in democracy on the world Democracy Index of 2010 by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the 5 members of the National Electoral Committee are appointed by the King.
10 comments:
They are telling us in No 1 Norway everyone is appointed by the King. PL is giving us a better system where the president will appoint only 2 out of 3 members !!! Michel fancies himself as King and not Emperor ?
In trying not to delay the development of democracy in Seychelles, they are really ducking and diving.
But they are right to think we are fools. 55% have just elected them. Or so they say.
This press release also fails to mention that if the 2 members can't agree on a chairman, the president will appoint one for them. Probably because it will be clear that the president's party will have a built-in majority on the commission.
On the one hand State House wants us to believe that they are implementing the recommendation of the Constitutional Review Committee, but on the other hand it wants to do its own thing because it has now been forced to implement an Electoral Commission against its will.
You can tell their hearts are not in this democracy thing.
This party is really fighting to be no. 2.
The press release shows that State House is on the back foot. Forced to demonstrate that they have consulted anyone, they have dusted off a 2year old report which they had previously buried.
You can't blame Ramkalawan or Georges if State House is resorting to playing childish games with constitutional changes. State House also has the tacit approval of their man appointed to advise the Egyptians on holding free and fair elections.
Reply to first comment-
They were not elected by 55% of the voters, they rigged the 54%.
The Press Release is being used by PL to ridicule the SNP - True.
But SNP looked to be ridiculed.
If SNP did not go back to the Assembly, we would just wait for PL to do its press release, and we all in unity would say yes or no.
Yes we accept the move, or no we do not.
The next stage of Seychelles future will not be fought in the National Assembly, this is where you will sit on Seyhcelles future,until such time the playing conditions are deemed inclusive, and acceptable by all parties.
In the meantime, not one patriotic Seychellois, should be seen to be giving SPPF PL any, any credibility.
Seselwa Unite!
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
To anonymous#1:
No, not everyone is appointed by the King in Norway, but his duties are clearly defined, amongst them as mentioned above. The king in Norway has little power, but does have some roles to play in society(after all, he gets paid to be King and has to do some work).
What does happen in Norway on a frequent basis is top politicians stating that they cannot perform a certain role or take part in a certain process due to their financial and or personal connection to the process, for instance having financial interests in a certain project. That is called transparency, where public documents are open for public viewing by any member of the public. Not so long a go a minister had to resign due to her mixing of friendship with government related work. That is why Norway is ranked as #1 on democracy amongst other things.
Today's newspapers in Norway there is an article where a coalition party wants to do a review on the government(which it is part of) in conenction with the purchase of new jet fighters. Why? Because the process may not have been performed properly and fair. Now that's what I call democracy and transparency.
What the opposition in Seychelles wants is for the opposition to appoint the electoral commission, that is until the opposition no longer is the opposition. Would they then accept the opposition appointing the electoral commission?
G. Payet
It is fair to say, we want a fair structure that allows for the voice of the people and their will, to be recognized.
So far we are very far from that.
Seychelles is a Democracy without Freedom in place.
Where do you go from here?
It is fair to say, we want a fair structure that allows for the voice of the people and their will, to be recognized.
So far we are very far from that.
Seychelles is a Democracy without Freedom in place.
Where do you go from here?
This commission will be a farce in the same way as the CAA has become a farce. Has the CAA produced an independent Judiciary? Absolutely not far from it. The member appointed by the president and the leader of the opposition would never agree on a third member and the president would have to appoint the third member who would be the chairman. So the sppf would have two on their men on this body and nothing will change. We all know that the sppf has always manipulated the CAA to have their men in robes on the bench. Candidates who were capable and qualified were passed over in favour of dumbos just because they were and still are stauch supporters of parti lepep. Watch out for Viral Dhanjee's case, the sppf have already set their manipulating machinery in motion and with the collaboration of their "Judges" Viral is going to lose this case, mark my word. It shows that the CAA hasn't worked and can never work. There has to be another way of selecting members so that we can have people who are not affiliated with any political party and can take independant decisions. If the electoral commission functions in the same way as the CAA we would have the same result as the recent presidential election.
The law should permit
the formation of an electoral commission made up of 1. one rep from Inter faith organization,2. one rep from lungos, 3. one rep from each reg. political party, 4. additional co-opted rep on temporary basis in the event of independent candidates filed within say 6 months beofr elections.
Simple. This will clear the air. Additionally Gappy should not stand again, neither should Charlie Morin. Both are stooges.
Seselwa Unite!
Sesel Pou Seselwa!
Christopher Gill
One rep for Christopher Gill, or is that two (2) reps ? Anyone who wants a rep simply has to register a political party. That's unfair. trust chris to come up with something that puts him and his money first.
It is true that the commission needs to be extended, to avoid its domination by a political party.
How about the idea of direct election to the commission ? Will people still vote along party lines ?
How about an additional rep for civic society (lungos, inter-faith committee to agree among themselves) and the 3 appointees to elect a chairman among themselves. Or rotating chairman every 5 years.
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