Young electoral observers gear up for forthcoming Seychelles National Youth Assembly election |18 January 2023

Participants and guests in a souvenir photograph

Representatives from secondary and post-secondary schools as well as officers of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) are now better equipped to become electoral officers and observers for the upcoming Seychelles National Youth Assembly elections in late February and March.

It followed their participation in a workshop which took place last week at the NAYOPI Restaurant and Business Centre, Providence.

The Seychelles National Youth Assembly (SNYA) is an educational forum with the aim of providing young people with leadership potential, nurture and enhance their abilities to research, compile and present fact-based arguments on issues which impact the lives and developments of the youths of Seychelles.

The SNYA election is a collaboration between the SNYC, the Ministry of Education, the British high commission, the Electoral Commission and the Youth department.

In attendance at the event were the chief executive of SNYC, Penny Belmont; the principal secretary (PS) for Youth and Sports, Ralph Jean-Louis; the foreign commonwealth development organisation’s (FCDO) director general, Corin Roberson; as well as the electoral officer, Françoise Marie, and other SNYA and SNYC officials.

In her speech to launch the session, Ms Belmont outlined the works and achievements of the SNYC and the benefits of having a young parliament in the country.

“The Youth Assembly provides a platform for all youths. It gives them a chance to stand up for their rights whenever and wherever they can. And also stand up for the rights of others, a chance to speak out for all who are vulnerable, and who are not fully empowered to speak for themselves,” she shared.

She called on all leaders to listen to the voices of young people, invest in them, and to involve young people meaningfully in all decision-making that affects their lives.

“The youths have a much more important role in nation-building than you might think. The future of the country depends on them and they represent it at every level. Every youth is equally responsible for a country’s future. They are the building blocks of a country. We cannot make changes or progress without the youth of a country,” she added.

For his part, PS Jean-Louis thanked the British high commission, the Electoral Commission and the Education department for their collaboration in the project, which started few months back.

He said despite some setbacks, they kept pushing because they believed in the youth.

“To help bring about such transformation, whereby the youth at a very young age will be engaged in a democratic election process for the Seychelles National Youth Assembly which is an educational platform from which the youth of this country between the age of 14-17 years old will have a voice through their elected representatives,” said Mr Jean-Louis.

During the workshop the participants were given an overview of the SNYA programme, the timeline and procedures leading towards the election dates as well as Nomination Day, workshop for nominees, launching of campaign and cooling off period.

Françoise Mein, in her capacity as an electoral officer, covered the election process, while Linda Monthy, a local observer from the Association for Rights, Information and Democracy (Arid) directed the participants on the roles of observers.

The Electoral Commission’s representative, Shenna Boniface, talked about the function and roles of the Electoral Commission towards the SNYA election and additionally gave a brief intervention on the principles of democracy.

The SNYA election is scheduled for February 27 to March 5 for secondary schools, while the dates for post-secondary institutions will be announced later.

Diane Larame

Photos contributed by SNYC