New Electoral Commission gets off to a good start
The newly appointed Electoral Commission (EC) has drawn warm praise after outlining its aims.
These were aimed at ensuring teamwork, boosting the EC’s effectiveness, transparency, accountability, better management of its budget and to build better working collaboration with the Attorney General’s office.
EC member Veronique Bonnelame-Alcindor said the Commission had a lot of challenges to overcome and it had to be realistic as to what it could deliver between now and the end of the year.
The former Commission had faced criticism and Lucianne Sophola-Bristol, chair of the Association for Rights, Information and Democracy, said of the new EC: “If things go as they have said I believe there will be changes.”
Lalyans Seselwa party leader Patrick Pillay said that he had been impressed with the EC’s first meeting. He went on: “I am really optimistic and I am full of hope for Seychelles because I see a group of professionals who promise to be committed, who are working together with a vision on what they want to achieve and are not looking at partisan politics.”
Roger Mancienne, party leader of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa, said: “I see this as a new and fresh start.”