source// Seychelles Weekly.. AN UNCOMFORTABLE EERIE SILENCE.. !!!! Since the POA.. (Public Order Act) has been assented to by the President to become the law of the land, there has been an eerie silence by major institutions created with the aim of fostering democracy. Civil society, the Electoral Commission and lawyers have remained exceptionally quiet. At some point in time, the law will come crashing down on each and every one of us mercilessly but it will be too late to act. It is becoming more and more evident that the establishment of a democratic state in Seychelles falls squarely on the shoulders of opposition politicians. Others may feel it is not their duty to contribute. What is even more distressing is the existence of many organizations created with the aim of contributing towards the democratic process but fail to walk the talk. When the country and the citizens are in dire need of their expertise and support, they go into hibernation. It is a new kind of politicking. At the end of the day, those organisations lack the will to live by their stated values and objectives. This is the tragedy.!!!! The Electoral Commission (EC) was mandated to steer the reform process and they did a wonderful job, presenting the recommendations to government. While it is not the EC’s role to dictate to government what to do, they had been given a role of extreme national importance as the chair of the Electoral Reform Com- mittee (ERC). As such, the EC was fully responsible for compiling the gist of the discussions into a series of recommendations to government. The rebuttal by government of the first series of recommendations in the form of the POA came as a surprise to both the EC and the ERC. The real opposition parties have made their stance known. The EC has failed to release a simple communiqué to the nation. Offering their views on the POA does not make the EC partisan; they all have a duty to guide this nation towards a more democratic society and provide laws based on best democratic practices; especially laws related to electioneering. Their silence bodes badly for Seychelles. The EC is elected for a mandate of seven years and no provision is made for the removal of any one of them. Is it that they all want a second mandate??? Are they serving the best interest of Seychelles???? On the other hand, the country has more than one hundred civil society organizations; all committed to being active in national governance areas, demanding accountability, promoting transparency and enhancing democracy. However, when it comes to the crux of the POA, civil society remains mooted. It is interesting to note the aims and objectives enumerated by many civil society organisations. CDW.. (Citizens Democracy Watch), an NGO that came into being and provided the first local observers for the last elections, has specific objectives among which are the followings... ** Encourage citizens participation in public affairs, as a means to exercise constitutional and democratic rights.. ** Promote the establishment and development of appropriate legal and policy frameworks to enhance democracy, human rights and good governance. ** Engage with locals and international political leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders on pertinent issues in areas of democracy building, elections and the promotion of human rights. ** Organise and conduct democracy and voters education to help citizens vote from an informed position. ** Promote best practice in good governance, democracy and electoral processes. The stated mission of the CDW is to promote and strengthen democracy and good governance by creating awareness about rights and values through advocacy, civic education, leadership training, election monitoring and mobilization of media... In the ace of the POA, CDW... may have forgotten their core values, mission and objectives. Incidentally, CDW was represented on the ERC in its quest for more democratic laws but CDW has also joined in the eerie silence over the POA. Civil society organizations in Seychelles is heavily dependent on government for funding which may well explain their silence as they may possibly be seen to be sympathetic towards the political opposition but this attitude does not help the country at all. It is a situation of uselessness in action. As LUNGOS (Liaison Office of Non-Governmental Organisations in Seychelles) is being transformed into a national platform, one wonders whether civil society in Seychelles will not turn out to be synonymous to mass inaction. As anticipated, political parties are expected to be civil society organisations of the national platform. Given the actual state of ineffectiveness of most NGOs, is the move to create a national platform not a subtle move to moot political opposition..!!!!!..
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:10:47 +0000
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