The upcoming presidential election set to take place on 22, 23 and 24 October this year [2020], will give to more than 89,500 citizens that are eligible to vote, the opportunity to have a say in the development of their country by selecting its next presidential leader through the ballot boxes.

With statistical data released in May 2020 by the Electoral Commission showing only 72,287 citizens have registered to vote, therefore, the alarming conclusion could only mean a staggering 17,000 plus citizens, who are all eligible has yet to register their name to vote in the next presidential election.

The thought of 17,000 plus citizens of Seychelles not having an active role in such an important decision-making process in any democratic country could be construed as ominous, especially since a large percentage of the 17,000 are the youth fated to be the next generation of workers, contributors and leaders of this country.

Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) has always advocated in youth voting whereby the future generations of the country must have a voice and a say in the future of their country. LDS has pressed the Electoral Commission to extend registration facilities past working hours, as a result, regional centers for voter’s registration are now open until 6pm, something that was not being done before.  

LDS strongly believes that young voters are an important part of the country that the party wants to build. Although a large group of the population, many tend to be unconcerned about politics especially since they feel it doesn’t impact their lives. Besides, more should be done to educate the youth about the importance in their right in taking part in such a democratic process, the meaning behind that right and the responsibility that comes with exercising such right.

In its continued drive to address the concerns of low numbers of youth taking part in such an important democratic process, LDS has launched its “Speak up, be heard” campaign on numerous social media platforms, targeting primarily the youth community, in its bid to entice and stimulate their interests. 

Distributed via popular platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook to name a few, the vibrant pictures and short videos of well-known LDS youth activists in action during various LDS promoted youth events. Combined with a simple but very strong message, “Speak up, be heard” hoping the simplistic message would resonate through the youth in understanding the importance of having a voice and making that voice heard too. Additional educational programmes in the form of a one to one talk show is also in the plan; where it will feature members from the youth community discussing the challenges and issues affecting them today; hoping it is a topic they can relate to and participate in the discussion.

A motion to reconsider the reintroduction of STC franchises (retail outlets) in districts where there are none has been an opportunity for Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) to clarify its position on STC.  While LDS supports STC, it wants the state-owned trading enterprise to deliver better on lower cost of commodities.

Sandy Arrisol, LDS elected Member for St. Louis started his intervention in the National Assembly by acknowledging the good intention of the motion and stated, “The motion brought by Honourable Ernesta is of good intentions; he wants a service closer to his electoral district of Takamaka and for its inhabitants since Takamaka has been identified as the district furthest away.” 

Arrisol emphatically pointed out “before we can take the motion tabled by Honourable Ernesta into consideration, we must also take into consideration as a National Assembly that there are many of our Seychellois brothers and sisters that do not have a salary, a job or even know how to make ends meet. Some doesn't even know what or how they are going to put food in their children's lunch box. All these are situations created as a result of COVID-19.  It is important that whilst we are debating on this motion, that we also take into account the difficulties being experienced by our Seychellois brothers and sisters and also the implementation cost which will add an extra burden to the taxpayers.” 

During this time of uncertainty, where Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) is unremittingly guiding everyone to be conscious of their spending, including the government, the implementation of these franchises is bound to create significant pressure on the government's spending, but is there an alternative? 

Arissol continued by pointing out the meeting of discussion that took place between LDS and the Retailers Association, whereby they discussed the current issues the organisation is facing due to COVID and what they can offer as remedies. "Why can't the government start a discussion with the Retailers Association on how they can collaborate to facilitate the need of the inhabitants to gain access to essential commodities at affordable prices and without incurring major financial expenses by creating STC franchises in various districts?" questioned the Members of Parliament for St. Louis.

During the numerous interventions on the motion, numerous areas of abuse during the previous franchise structure that was in place in the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB) era were highlighted, whereas a lack of accountability and transparency that existed within the system aided in the continued abuse of the SMB franchises at the time.  It is worth noting that Seychelles had a franchise mechanism in place previously, where SMB dominated the retail and wholesale markets thus the question dying to be asked ‘why didn’t it work before?’