Selective media kept out of debate

This week marked Human Rights Day. The United Nations, for that occasion clearly stated that “everyone has the right to be heard and to shape the decisions that affect their lives and communities.”

The UN statement underlined the statement I made in my last week’s editorial aptly entitled “Inclusion and accessibility are two of the fundamental rights.”

This week I want to further highlight the hypocrisy of our Government. I want to know why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveniently chose to invite only selected media to cover the main national event marking this day. Once again it shows the attitude of the Michel Administration towards a particular section of our society, although the Government professed to be one ‘representing the entire nation.’ Clearly by choosing to engage only with X but keeping Y a distance away is not at all representing everyone’s interest.

Although the message of Minister of Foreign Affairs for that occasion said: “Every Seychellois has the right to have their voices heard, and to have a say in the decision making process which shapes their lives and their communities” it is clear that we still have a long way to go.

I will remain an activist of media access to official information. I am in favour of getting the opportunity to ask the question I feel I need to ask, rather than reproducing edited public relation materials emailed to LSH office by Government paid spin doctors.

I believe that engaging with every media helps to transform our society. LSH as a legally registered business wants the equal chance to offer its readership the chance to be a part of public discourse and to provide a platform for them to help influence the decisions that shape their communities. 

When Minister Adam said: “wherever possible, the government engages in consultation at all levels to facilitate the participation of all segments of our society,” what does that means? Does it means that the voices of any media house that do not report in favour of the Government will never be heard, be included in the nation building process or get the equal opportunity to flourish?

As we publish the last edition of LSH for 2012, I wish to commend Minister Adam’s wishes that we should embark “on a journey to foster to a culture of tolerance, acceptance, and non-discrimination for all.” LSH and the rest of the Opposition have been saying so for the past 19 years.

This country is far too small to think that some people’s opinions do not matter or that we can get by without them.  

Inclusion and accessibility are two of the fundamental rights

“Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all” was the theme of this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities. An aptly chosen theme that gives us all an ideal opportunity to reexamine the situation around us.

To be honest, it was the Minister of Social Affairs, Community Development, Vincent Meriton’s message last Sunday night that got me thinking, if only politicians were more sincere in their words.

The Minister’s message said this was “an opportunity for our population to focus on what each and every one of us can do, in the work that we do and in the community where we live to remove all types of barriers in our society.”

Do we have barriers in Seychelles? Certainly not against women or people based on their gender, religious belief or ethnicity. But for sure political exclusion is rampant in this small nation state.

The biggest barrier people who support the Opposition face is the attitude of the Government – “I pa avek nou.” The second barrier is the way the political power has created the political divide between its red camp and anyone else who doesn’t fit the colour profile.

We know that one should not be excluded from national dialogue and everybody should respect the views of each other. Yet the ruling Parti Lepep during the last 35 years has find a way to limit political competition; alienate the Opposition and stop them from participating fully in mainstream society.

Just like Minister Meriton’s call for all barriers limiting the disabled people to fully develop their potentials, the very ministry he heads - Community Development, has been the corner stone in segregating the Seychellois community based on their political colour and affiliation.  

For years, housing, land, jobs, scholarships have all been offered to people not based on their merits but their political allegiance to the ruling party. The political divide is stopping our people from gaining control of their lives and an equal chance to participate actively in their communities by providing support they have the abilities to. 

The Minister recognizes that inclusion and accessibility are two fundamental rights.  It is therefore, the right of those who choose to disagree with the Government to do so without being seen as ungrateful, unpatriotic and be denied the chance to be treated as equal. 

Fooling the people

This week I observed just how desperate the authorities are to control everything and ensure that information that filters to the public is according to their version of events.

I was alerted by a number of calls since last Saturday morning that the Indian construction workers at the Savoy Resort and Spa site were complaining of not being paid and were refusing to work. Finally the situation got out of hand on Monday afternoon and they converged on the street to manifest their anger.

I got to the Beau Vallon police station in time to witness the negotiations between the workers’ representatives, the Indian High Commission officials, the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources (ML&RH), the developers and the Police.

Just like a police investigator at a crime scene, a journalist’s role whilst covering a story will usually make sure to cover all angles. That means talking to all sources involved and we tried to do just that on Monday. 

The police was happy to declare to the media that they were on top of the situation having successfully convinced the protestors to leave the road and to sit peacefully inside the station compound. They also allowed the media to interact with the developers and reassured us that the officials from the ML&RH were on their way to Beau Vallon and will give a press briefing. But one group was out of bounds and the police will interfere each time we tried to have a word with them – the Indian protestors! 

The striking workers were the reason we were all there that afternoon and their voices were imperative to be heard. But the Police would have none of it and said allowing the media to talk to them would only agitate them and disturb the peace they had already established. The workers were then escorted by the Police back to their compound and kept inside by the watchful Nepalese security. 

  

The police attitude to me was very clear for one reason - silence the voice of the protestors and protect the image of Government. To any fair-minded individual, this attitude is wrong. We need to hear the whole story and not just the official point of view. For far too long, we have been fed well rehearsed lines only to conceal the truth. This cannot go on for much longer, for as Bob Marley put it, “You can fool some people sometimes but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

      

Exile yourself!

Last week, the Parti Lepep (PL) mouth piece, The People, shamelessly asked me to exile myself if I feel I don't like the Government.

The attack was in response to my editorial two weeks back entitled ‘I am ashamed of my Government.’

In typical one-party state attitude, The People wrote, “then what are you doing in this country if you are ashamed of your Government? Go and live overseas.”

This is not the first time PL has launched such an attack on anyone who dared challenge their regime.

It is my right to disagree strongly with the current socialist Government's position and agenda on a variety of issues. My loyalty and full support is towards the Constitution. An American social commentator once wrote “you can love your country without having to love your Government.”

I love my country and the ideals it was founded upon, such as peace, tolerance and hard work. The country is the people, the land and the way of life.

The government is the only governing administration I have known my entire life. From the coup d’état to winning the elections through scare mongering tactics, they have managed to impose themselves upon us until now.  Sure the Government has done bits and pieces for the country and its people, but at the same time it is gradually growing too powerful and starting to think Seychelles is uniquely theirs!

As a patriot I see it as my duty to defend Seychelles against any Government which is not serving its best interest.  I will be loyal to a Government only when it deserves it.

The trouble with the ruling party is that they cannot differentiate between Government and country, just as they are as confuse between party and state.

I will continue to voice my opinion when I feel the need to. If they do not like it tough like or else they want to resort to other illegal means to silence me, as we all know they have used in the past!