LOTO paints grim picture of country’s current state |28 February 2024
Mr Pillay
“The State of our nation is not right. We have major challenges that need to be addressed but we do not have a leader with the ability to do it today at State House.”
This was how the leader of the opposition (LOTO) in the National Assembly, Sebastien Pillay, summarised the State-of-the-nation address (SONA) delivered last week by the head of state, describing it as the worst address delivered to date before the National Assembly.
Mr Pillay, who was the first to address the House, took his 45 minutes to paint a grim picture of the country’s current state, highlighting failures in all sectors – from health to education, agriculture and entrepreneurship, a weak social system and high cost of living.
LOTO said the President missed an opportunity to address key issues plaguing the country, and this was felt by the majority of people he spoke to following the SONA.
According to him, during his tenure, the President has failed to address pertinent issues but focused on “suppressing criticism, manipulating the truth to destroy his opponents with the help of other state institutions”.
“We live in a country where consultation with the public is a joke, the opinion of only one person matters. This is the character of a person we are dealing with,” added LOTO.
He described President Ramkalawan and his administration as “incompetent and inefficient” stating he would have expected a realistic SONA after the hefty public meeting exercise held last year.
“The real state of our nation is one where the cost of living has hit the roof, business sector is on pause, farmers are frustrated, Seychellois are scared to go to the state doctors because there are no bedsheets, there are no furniture at the beginning of school term, we have sewage problem and contract payments are not done on time among others.”
“We should not be taking the state of our nation lightly but unfortunately that is what our president did. He refuses to address serious issues impacting us because his track record and ability to deal with them are mediocre,” said Mr Pillay.
“The government’s role is to deliver for its people, and the people have the right to question them and urge them to deliver. The people have all the right to seek recourse from them.”
On the international scene, LOTO accused the President of taking “controversial position” without informing the population such as joining an international alliance to fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea and Seychelles’ position on the World Health Organisation’s pandemic protocol.
He also deplored the President’s call for unity, accusing him being the main person causing division in the country.
To conclude, LOTO stated that Seychelles’ only option was to elect a United Seychelles party at the helm of the government at the next election.