As it has been the custom over the years, we bring you extracts of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Wavel Ramkalawan's reply to the 2004 State-of the-Nation Address which he delivered to the National Assembly on Thursday February 26.

The so-called socialist system which has been proclaimed during the past 27 years has created a society where the majority of our people are suffering whilst a few are enjoying life to the full. There is injustice and favouritism in our society. The only mode of government which will give Seychelles back its dignity and allow the Seychellois to live in harmony is none other than a liberal philosophy, which will guarantee freedom of speech, liberty to work, freedom of association and economic liberalisation.

Allow me first of all to say a few words, now that Mr. René has publicly announced that he will be stepping down and handing over power to Minister James Michel. The SNP believes that this is not acceptable. Why? In 1998, Mr. René was elected President of the country for 5 years. In 2001, having served only three years he called for early elections and asked for a new mandate so that he could attract investors to our shores. He was elected with 55% of the vote. Less than three years in that second mandate he has now said he is stepping down, but that he will still be around to run the
party. The Seychellois, specifically the SPPF, voted for Mr. France Albert René and not for Minister James Michel to be their president. Had something happened to Mr. René we would have understood him invoking the Constitutional clause and handing over to his Vice-President. But nothing has happened to Mr. René. Therefore I ask that fresh presidential elections be held for the people to express themselves and vote for their leader. The people will decide whether they want Minister Michel or somebody else as their president. This choice cannot be made by Mr. René, but by the people of Seychelles. The SNP is calling on the people of Seychelles to make their views known and to ask that presidential elections be held as soon as Mr. René steps down. Seychelles is a democracy and not a monarchy. If no elections are held, it will be comparable to a coup d'etat where somebody becomes president without being elected. Let the people choose their president.

We look back today over a year that has been difficult and somber for the majority of our people. It is not my wish to be a false prophet, but rather act as someone who is experiencing the daily reality of life in Seychelles.
I will speak on behalf of the mother who comes to me for a tin of milk for her baby, for the person who cannot pay for her child's school uniform or pay a water bill; for those who are unemployed; for those complaining about
the tough economic situation; for those who have been victimized; for those who are not given import permits and for those who complain about the lack of goods and the high cost of living. I will be their voice. If when I speak on the daily realities of life I am described as a false prophet, I will simply say that there are many blind Esmeralda's in Seychelles and we need more Dr. Alvaro Lascano's. We need to look at what is wrong in the face in order to go to what is right. It is my duty to speak out about what is wrong, about what is making life hard for the people of Seychelles and what is clouding the future of our young people. It is my job and I will continue to do it. Call me whatever name, but still I will fulfill my responsibilities and speak out.

My message today is also one of hope. I am here to tell the Seychellois people that I have every conviction that things will get better. I have faith that the party which I lead has the solutions to the problems that face this country today. I have faith that the SNP will unite the
Seychellois people in an all-out effort to set things right in our country, to give Seychelles a modern efficient honest government that will build a strong and sustainable economy, an open, law-abiding and just society, and a
fair, responsible and compassionate social welfare system.
It is because I have this conviction that I want to tell everyone 'Have Faith in the liberal Seychelles that we will build.'  Things can get better and we will have the opportunity to make them better. It will be only up to
us to seize the opportunity and work for it.

My first task today Mr. Speaker is to speak about what our nation has been forced to face in this past year, about the State of our Nation the way our people see it and feel it. :
- The new Goods and Services Tax, GST, has taken a huge bite in the purchasing power of the Seychellois people. Together with depreciation in the value of the rupee, the tax has caused prices in the shops to shoot up.
At this moment, many families have to face real hardship, many families are having difficulty making ends meet and all families are facing a drop in their buying power.

- The continued shortage of foreign exchange and the economic downturn has caused all businesses, except a privileged few, to cut back and many to close. According to members of the business community, over 50% of businesses will face serious problems this year. The businesses that flourish today are only those where the owners are in government, have close ties to government, friends in the right places or who are permitted to do things that others are not permitted to do.

- Our tourism industry has faced its hardest year yet, and our hotels have
been brought to the brink of disaster. Tourism arrivals dropped again,
meaning less business for hotels, restaurants, taxi-drivers, artisans and
many other people who depend on tourism for a living. We have seen a number
of tourism businesses close with a significant loss of jobs. I fear that we
will face more of the same in 2004.

- There is now real concern that we will lose precious business in the
fisheries sector because of deterioration in the services to the foreign
fishing fleet. On several occasions this year SEPEC was unable to sell fuel
to the foreign fishing boats, causing us to lose precious foreign exchange
and forcing the fishing companies to look elsewhere for services. At article
in a Mauritius two weeks ago stated clearly that one company there was
extending and modernizing its facilities to take some of the tuna
transshipment business from Seychelles. There are hundreds of jobs in the
tuna transshipment business which are at risk.

- The issue of jobs has become critical. What we have experienced has been a frightening loss of jobs. All sectors of the economy face the same situation and jobs are at risk everywhere. Jobs, work, Mr. Speaker is what allows families to earn a respectable living, to keep children healthy, to maintain a stable society. There is not enough investment, there is not enough business creation not enough job creation to meet the aspirations of our young people and to build a secure future.

- Our Nation today, Mr. Speaker, is one which cannot ensure a decent health
care for its citizens. At Victoria hospital, there has been no hot running water for most of the year, the lifts don't work, essential machines have
remained out of service for long periods at a time for want of spare parts
or maintenance, and drugs have continued to be short. Despite the heroic
efforts of our nurses and health care professionals, whom I admire for their
courtesy and devotion, many people have not obtained the health care they
needed. Many people went to the hospital for an important operation only to
be sent home because something was not available or something was not
working.

- The government has continued to act without respect for the basic
principles of democracy and for the rights of its citizens, particularly
those in the civil service. The dismissal of nine senior police officials
and two constables at the end of 2003 and the prosecution of another senior
officer was a capricious, spiteful action calculated only to strengthen the
hold of the SPPF over the police force.

One of the most troublesome signs is that more and more, we find a country
with two sides, a side of privilege and a side where people don't know where
they are. In business, a privileged few get all the permits and foreign
exchange that they require to maintain a large volume of commerce. One or
two merchants sell everything - beer with no GST, counterfeit cigarettes,
fridges, cars, tv sets, furniture, and so on, while others are left with
empty shops. A few people in this country hold all the power and rule over
key areas without regard for government institutions, elected officials or
the law. A few spend lavishly on parties, including with government money,
and go shopping  overseas. They go through the VIP lounge without knowing
that there is a squad which carry out stringent searches on the ordinary
Seychellois.  On the other hand the majority face shortages like mothers who
were not able to find baby feed for weeks at a time. Some people openly
disregard customs regulations while a lot of our people are subjected to
humiliating searches for forex or goods. More and more, the benefits go to a
few while the hardships are shared by the majority.

Mr Speaker, I am here to ask the Seychellois people if this is what they
expected and hoped for from the SPPF. Many people have believed in the SPPF
all these years. They have heard the promises and plans. But today we are
seeing that the reality is far from the rosy promises made in the past. I am
here to ask: Is this the best we can do for our country?

Therefore I am also here to tell the Seychellois people that we must unite
to stop this deterioration that threatens the fabric of our nation and the
future of our country.  We face today the gravest situation we have been in
during the recent history of our country. The party which the honourable
members on the other side of this room represent has come to the end of the
road. They are heading for a precipice and taking the country with it. I am
not exaggerating one bit when I say that it is like a bus with an engine
that has failed, that is nearly out of fuel anyway, and the brakes too have
failed. But at the wheel of this bus, we have a driver who thinks he is a
racing champion. He is going full tilt down a steep road with a precipice at
the bottom.  How can we sit by and not take the wheel from him?

The SPPF has no vision, no plan, and no action except those that make things
worse. The steps taken to deal with the growing crisis has already been a
failure.

Government reaction to the economic crisis has been the Macro-economic
reform programme or MERP. Seven months after its introduction, it is
failing. The IMF is not showing the support for it that the Government
itself said was essential. Negotiations with the Paris Club are looking more
and more uncertain. The prospects of achieving a major re-scheduling of our
foreign debt, which government was counting on to bring an economic turnaround, are dim. Instead, government is looking again for risky money from the hands of commercial agents who will screw us and put us in a bigger hole. As negotiations fail with the IMF and the countries which have helped us in the past, this government is turning to loan sharks for some money.
These loan sharks will eat us up. The effects of MERP have been to depress industry, especially tourism and manufacturing, to make goods more expensive, to downgrade government services. It has had no positive effect on the economy. It has taken us closer to the precipice.

The privatisation programme which was announced as part of MERP is not going the right way.  Since it was announced in the MERP package, we have seen not seen a sincere and honest plan for a meaningful privatization programme. On the contrary, I am sorry to say, we have seen more shady transactions, conducted without transparency.

On the ideological front, a party which has been in power for 25 years
brings nothing but an empty phrase each year. We have gone through the year
of 'economic and social re-dynamism', what has been the result? Our economy is more tired and sick than ever. We are now in the year of 'moral renaissance' but what has changed in the example that our leaders give to this country? As long as we tolerate and foster corruption, as long as we allow greed and the thirst for privilege to rule, it is pointless exhorting people to be something else. Let us eradicate corruption, let us not permit power to be used for personal interest, let us not fool our young people with parties and frivolity. Isn't it interesting that having declared the year as that of 'moral renaissance,' Mr. René has now decided to step down.
Is he in fact telling us that we are the ones who have to rebuild what has been destroyed since 1977 under his leadership?

The SPPF has a lot to answer for. They have bankrupted this country and are morally bankrupt. Look at their politics, they have nothing to offer except
lies and malice. Last week, they came out with a story that I had tried to
bribe an old lady to get her to sign a paper. What paper, they could not even say clearly. This is a complete lie. I have here on tape a statement from this old lady who says that I have never gone to her home. The 'People' journalists who went to her house to take a photograph allowed her to believe that they were from the NCC. The SPPF have been caught in an attempt to put a frail old lady in the front a malicious attack. Have you ever seem more degenerate politics?

Much of all of what I have been saying is on the somber side of things but I also see beyond that, into a brighter and healthier future. And I want to tell the Seychellois people that it is time for all of us to devote ourselves to working for that future. It is time to stop trying to play both sides, to keep hold of thinking of our privilege and at the same time deplore the way things are going. If you don't like the way things are going, decide what you can do about it and do it. It is time to stop being merely an on-looker and a complainer, time also to stop saying 'I am not interested in politics, Let them do what they want'. Politics concerns us all. It is the way in which we can secure our rights and protect what we our chances.  Politics is about our future. Do not use your family as an excuse not to get involved. On the contrary, look at your family and take the commitment to be involved in order to give them a better future.

The SNP has set up a liberal agenda for Seychelles which is the only way forward. The SNP knows that it has the responsibility to do this. It does not have 26 years of power and privilege to protect, it does not have vested interests to defend. It has been looking at what our country is going through from down below, through the eyes of the people. It carries the aspirations of young people who think about the future rather than just a little bit of fun at present.

Our agenda for our country is based on:
- a modern democratic system of government for Seychelles following the principles of good governance and respect for democratic institutions
- a liberal economy in which all our people can play a full part
- a society based on justice, respect for the law and for the rights of all individuals.
For all the years that we have been in politics, the SNP has been clear and steadfast in its principles. The SNP will continue working towards these principles in the year ahead, in this Assembly, in the whole country and in
the international community.

Once again, our focus will be on the economic situation and we will continue
pressing for real, meaningful reforms that can give our economic system a
new breath of life. As we have said in the past, the way forward is to liberalise our economy so that government frees the private to initiate and maintain an economy that is solid and that can grow to offer new opportunities. We will call for the right conditions to sustain our tourism
industry and the fisheries industry. We will plead for a fair deal for our manufacturing industries and for small businesses.

We will press the government in whatever way we can, but we know that the essential turnaround will not occur until the SNP is able to take the reins of government. This is the only way we will harness the creativity and energy of the whole of the Seychellois people to build economic prosperity, and the only way we will get the help we need from the international community on the right basis.

We believe in a partnership for change - that everyone must consider themselves part of the solution. We will end once and for all the exercise of power by a few individuals and the use of power for self-interest.

As of today, we begin calling for protection for jobs.  All jobs. This means giving every sector of the economy a chance to survive these difficult times. We must protect local jobs. We will intensify our call to boycott Castle beer to protect jobs. Our call is: Drink Seybrew. Do not buy Castle
beer. We cannot deprive local industry of the essential ingredients to function or place burdensome taxes upon them, and then turn around to import the goods they produce and evade taxes on them just to make a huge profit.
We will denounce those who break the law and use their privilege to make personal gains. Protect the job of a brother and a sister and you will be helping a family survive.

The SNP will maintain its campaign to have the GST on food and essential family items removed. We will resist further increases in the cost of living and push for a reduction in prices of essential commodities across the board. To this end, we will launch our campaign on March 14th in a march followed by a rally in Victoria in which we will give voice to our concerns about jobs, prices, GST, and the other issues that are important for us.

The SNP will also be more active on the international front. We will go wherever we can to rebuild the relationships that are essential for us and
for the future. Only the SNP will bring the friendship and support of the international community back to Seychelles. I will myself take every occasion to open dialogue with countries and organizations which are able to extend help and support in our development, and to give Seychelles a voice within the international community. This is a task that the present government will not fulfill because it has consistently broken its word and its obligations. The present government has left a trail of debts unpaid, broken agreements and destroyed the relationships we might have had with international organizations. The SNP is already embarked on re-establishing and nurturing these relationships.

The Seychellois people will have an Opposition Party that will work ever harder to defend their interests and prepare itself for future government.
It gives me great pleasure today to introduce to this Assembly and to the people of Seychelles a new member of the SNP team in this Assembly, Mrs Annette Georges. Mrs Georges is taking a seat in this Assembly today because the Executive Committee of the SNP has decided to propose to our members in our Convention later this year that I will be the Presidential candidate for the SNP in the next elections and that Mrs Georges will be the Vice-Presidential candidate. In order to allow our members to express themselves on this and to make a decision, I have therefore decided that Mrs Georges needs to take a fuller and more visible role in party affairs and have therefore named her as one of our proportionally elected members. I am confident that Mrs Georges will make a valuable contribution to the work of our party and to this Assembly.

Mrs Georges takes the place of Ebrona Brioche. I take the opportunity to thank Ebrona for her work and for the sincerity and commitment she has brought to her role as an MNA. The strength of our party rests on the
courage and character of people like Ebrona who is not afraid to face a challenge and to take up a task when she is asked  to. Everyone in our party is grateful to Ebrona.

As I have said, I am confident that the SNP has the capacity and the ideas to bring this country round and put it on the road to a good future. I call for the contribution of every Seychellois in this. The SNP will be a government that embraces all the people of Seychelles. Wherever you work, whatever you study, whatever you believe, we will count you as one of us.
The strength of our country tomorrow will be not only that the SNP will give capable leadership to Seychelles but it will also bring every Seychellois together to give our full best.

I wish all Christians a blessed Lent. Let us all open our hearts to receive God's blessings. Let us allow him to bless our country.

Nou pa pou zanmen les tonbe!

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