Mayor to be elected, Bill proposes |03 August 2022
By Patsy Canaya
The National Assembly will soon debate on a Bill, proposing that the Mayor of Victoria be directly elected.
The Bill, published last week by the Office of the Attorney General, is the first of its kind and establishes a framework for the election of the Mayor of Victoria.
It proposes that the person should be elected by Seychellois residing in the eight districts – namely Bel Air, English River, Mont Buxton, St Louis, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance, Les Mamelles, and Roche Caiman – until a specific register of voters of the Town of Victoria is developed in accordance with the Elections Act or regulations made under this proposed law.
Under the current practice, the Mayor is selected by the members of the National Assembly from those eight districts.
According to the proposed Bill, any Seychellois who is registered as a voter in any electoral area is eligible to be the Mayor of Victoria.
This also applies to a public officer.
However, the person will have to proceed on leave without pay, from nomination day to the Election Day.
It should be noted that those occupying posts such as judicial officers, the Attorney General, the Chief of the Seychelles Defence Forces and the Commissioner of Police will not be able to stand for the mayoral post.
The Bill states that the person who is elected as Mayor of Victoria will assist any relevant ministry, government department or agency to implement the Town of Victoria development plan.
It proposes that part of their mandate will be to address specific issues at the community level so as to promote cleanliness, good hygiene and beautifications; prevent vandalism of public and private property; and assist the public authorities in addressing any existing or emerging community level problems in the Town of Victoria.
A person elected as Mayor of Victoria will serve a five-year mandate and will be eligible for re-election.
The Mayor of Victoria Bill 2022 also makes provision for the post of a Chief Executive Officer, who will be appointed by the Mayor of Victoria to implement the decisions and manage the affairs of the Mayor’s Office.
The current Mayor of Victor is David Andre who was appointed by former President Danny Faure in 2017. In 2020, he was appointed by the President, after being interviewed and recommended by the MNAs making up the Association of Districts of Victoria.