Leaders’ forum at State House |07 November 2020

President Ramkalawan chairing the first leaders’ forum yesterday at State House

President Ramkalawan commits to open door approach with legislative

By Laura Pillay

President Wavel Ramkalawan yesterday met with the leaders from the National Assembly, for the first leaders’ forum in which they discussed the legislative programme and work of the assembly for the foreseeable future.

The forum, attended by Vice-President Ahmed Afif, Speaker of the assembly Roger Mancienne, deputy speaker Gervais Henrie, leader of the opposition Sebastien Pillay, leader of government business Bernard Georges and Attorney General Frank Ally, was an opportunity for the leaders to voice their concerns to the President, and finalise the work schedule for the legislative arm of government, ahead of the 2021 budget presentation.

“It was very important for us to have this meeting. It was the first contact between the executive and the legislative so, we presented the legislative programme for between now and the end of the year, and definitely we are hoping that there will be certain pieces of legislation that the assembly will discuss and approve,” said President Ramkalawan.

“So we looked at how we can work better together, and I made it clear that it is an open-door approach, whenever the assembly feels there are issues that they want to discuss with the executive, the door is wide open, and I extended the same courtesy to the leader of the opposition (Loto) telling him that he can always be in touch with me, and I will also contact him when the need arises, and if he wants to come and meet me here, the door will be open, and we will discuss whatever issues,” President Ramkalawan remarked after the meet.

As announced by the President, the 2021 budget will not be presented this year, but in January 2021. As such, the state of the nation address is scheduled for January 5, and the Minister for Finance is to present the budget on Monday January 11, to be followed by the usual National Assembly scrutiny on the budget. According to the Constitution, the budget should be presented by January 31 latest.

In addition to the budget, President Ramkalawan said he is looking forward to assenting to some of the legislative amendments, including those to the Civil Code, which the sixth assembly was involved in amending.

“But there are a few pieces of legislation that the National Assembly will need to pass, and these include an amendment to the law relating to the Central Bank of Seychelles, Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), and two others. They are mainly small pieces of legislation. At the same time, there is a supplementary appropriation, because during this period, there are expenses that the past administration made, but we need to regularise those. It will also include additional expenses which they have incurred. All this will be put forward to the assembly for consideration,” President Ramkalawan added.

Therefore, the assembly will work until the end of November whereby they will go into recess, until early January once the budget is to be presented.

With regards to the relationship between the two institutions, President Ramkalawan again seized the opportunity yesterday to reiterate the urgent need for all citizens to work together to address the economic issues and see the country and domestic economy through the hardships brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I made it clear that it is an open door relationship so anytime the speaker, or leaders want to contact me, they can do so. And I also extended the courtesy to the leader of the opposition and told him that if there is anything that concerns him regarding the country or anything, to please come forward as I am ready to meet him at any time,” he further stated.

In addition to discussing parliament’s legislative programme, leader of the opposition Sebastien Pillay addressed certain concerns with the President, pertaining to alleged claims of victimisation.

“One of the subjects is Air Seychelles’ employees who have been suspended, so we have got the government’s engagement that they will look into it and he also assured citizens in general that if they have a job to do, they can continue with their work, everyone is free to have their political opinion, the way we express it is also important. And I think it was necessary to have this meeting to establish the basis for communication as well, so we know what role we have to play in this new chapter that Seychelles is in,” said Mr Pillay.

“I think the country is facing serious difficulties in relation to the economy, so it was important to know which stance the government will adopt, and the plans of the government, and I think at the appropriate time, government will announce its plans, and we will be here to review these plans to ensure that they are in the best interest of Seychellois, and of course, ensure that we play our role, especially my role, important as leader of the opposition to represent the voice of the other side, so as to also help government to have checks and balance in the work it is undertaking,” Honourable Pillay stated.

Leader of government business Bernard Georges also proposed during the forum that State House be made more accessible to the public, in line with the government’s guiding values of transparency and openness.

“It is in the same mind since the election, that all ministries will be more open and accessible and State House will lead by example. There will be no secrets, and everything will be done in the open, so all Seychellois know what their government is doing whether in the executive, in the judiciary or whether in the National Assembly,” Honourable Georges said.