|
Seychelles Opposition Movements and Interest Groups
Most domestic critics of the government had been
silenced by
harassment or had been forced into exile during the period
of
one-party rule from 1977 to 1991. Opposition groups, about
which
little information is available, included the Movement for
Resistance (Mouvement pour la Résistance), the Seychelles
Liberation Committee, and the Seychelles Popular
Anti-Marxist
Front. Government control over the press and radio and
television
broadcasts also made it difficult for any opposition views
to be
heard, although newspapers printed by exiles were smuggled
in
from abroad or received by fax. The Roman Catholic and
Anglican
churches were allowed to comment on social and political
issues
during broadcasts of religious services, which each was
allowed
on alternate Sundays. The Roman Catholic bishop exercised
a
degree of influence and was regarded as one of the few
checks
against abuse by the René regime.
Until 1992 the Seychelles government tolerated no
manifestation of domestic opposition, and opposition
figures were
forced to carry on their anti-SPPF campaigns from abroad,
mainly
in London. One exile leader, Gérard Hoarau, head of the
Seychelles National Movement, was assassinated in 1985 in
a crime
that the British police were unable to solve.
The leading member of the exile community, however, was
Mancham, former head of the Seychelles Democratic Party
who was
overthrown as president in 1977. In April 1992, Mancham
returned
to Seychelles to revive his political movement. Since 1989
Mancham had mounted what he called a "fax revolution" from
London
by sending facsimile messages designed to stir up
opposition to
the 200 fax machines in Seychelles. His program, entitled
the
Crusade for Democracy, was intended to restore democracy
to
Seychelles peacefully. Data transmitted by fax included
accounts
of human rights violations in Seychelles and charges of
corruption of the René regime. René's government made it
illegal
to circulate a seditious fax in Seychelles, but fax owners
eluded
this regulation by photocopying the original before
turning it in
to the police. René then sought to counter the criticism
through
a government media campaign, but in so doing he admitted
the
existence of an opposition in Seychelles. The end result
was that
he was obliged to give way and allow multiparty democracy
to
exist. René recognized Mancham as official Leader of the
Opposition, and Mancham received a salary as a government
employee with various perquisites.
A third opposition leader was Anglican clergyman Wavel
Ramkalanan. In a 1990 radio sermon, Ramkalanan denounced
violations of human rights by the René government.
Although
forced off the air, he continued to distribute copies of
his
sermons charging government corruption. Ramkalanan formed
the
Parti Seselwa when the government lifted its political ban
but
obtained only a 4.4 percent return in the 1992 election
for
delegates. The Parti Seselwa and five other newly
registered
parties allied themselves with Mancham's NDP but later
broke away
to form the United Opposition Party, charging Mancham with
being
too willing to compromise with René and the SPPF.
The Roman Catholic Church continued to wage opposition
to the
René regime. In early 1993, the Roman Catholic bishop
appeared
before the constitutional commission several times to
complain
about past human rights violations by the René government.
He
also demanded that the new constitution adopt a ban on
abortion
and provide for religious education in the schools.
Data as of August 1994
|
