Victoria, Mahé (Seychelles) – December 30, 2019 – As 2019 draws to a close, the hardships that the year has brought and Seychellois have endured cannot be overlooked. On my campaign trails I have seen much suffering which would open the eyes of many to the glaring disparity between the haves and the have-nots in Seychelles, including a struggling mother sharing a tin of old sardines with her children. As the saga between the Legislative and Executive continues to be dragged out and point-scoring is rampant, this poor woman continues to stress about feeding her children, and her basic needs are not being met. There is so much more that can be done for families such as this, so much more that is owed to her.
This new year is bringing with it a chance for us to give Seychelles a renewed purpose, and a real change.
As President of the One Seychelles Party, I would sincerely like to express my heartfelt thanks to all party members, supporters and also the citizens of this beautiful country who are steadfastly working towards a brighter future for our children and grandchildren. I would like to thank you all for your support, inspiring devotion, perseverance, determination and commitment.
Despite the many challenges that come with being the Third Force which dares to stand up against two well-funded parties, we will persevere in the fight to make Seychelles the One Seychelles that we need it to be.
Let us take a moment to reflect on the state of our nation, the state of our health and education systems, on law and order, our various economic sectors as well as the decisions that our present leaders are taking. Are these decisions the right ones for the people of Seychelles? Are we creating the future that we desperately need? Do we still want to keep living on false hopes and promises?
To those who are frustrated and have had enough with waiting for housing assistance, to single parents who are seeking assistance and are being refused, to all those earning below the stated poverty line and to those who are trying to make ends meet while some are benefiting from the same State resources with big salaries, is this what you want for the coming years?
Each citizen of this country has an important role to play in the Nation’s progress. We deserve to have a rightful place in the centre of the country’s development and future plans.
Together, we are One Seychelles and Seychelles needs each one of us to restore unity, prosperity and harmony within its communities.
There is a need for us to reinforce law and order, peace and security for both our people and visitors to our shores. It is time to adopt measures to legalise medicinal marijuana, to ensure an incorruptible and truly independent judiciary by making them financially autonomous, to bolster Seychellois workers by ending preferential treatment of foreign workers over them, to put an end to monopolies which are crippling upcoming businesspeople, and discuss social issues that are truly affecting our society and are creating a negative impact on our economy.
The time has come to quit talking and debating, and to start taking real actions to address these issues and protect our economy. On behalf of the One Seychelles Party, I would like to reaffirm that we will keep on striving to bring the changes we need and that the People have been begging for for years.
We ask all those who want to see poverty alleviation become a reality, prosperity, peace, a reduction in the cost of living, modernised education and health systems, a defined action plan on how to tackle the social ills affecting our communities, join us and together let us make these goals a reality.
I pray that this festive season will be a time where we do reflect and make good decisions for our people, our children, our struggling elderly citizens, our unemployed youths, our under appreciated workforce and the future generations.
For those of you who are suffering, I pray that you will not give up hope. I pray that you will be given courage, strength and perseverance to see you through the coming year, which promises increased taxes and higher costs of living.
I wish all our members and supporters as well as the people of Seychelles a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Let it be the year of change.
