"Ti France" bows out after 27 Years

New African, Apr 2004 by Erwood, Fletcher

SEYCHELLES

Last month, President France Albert Rene finally announced his retirement, but as Fletcher Erwood reports, Rene will still remain the top man calling the shots behind the scenes.

Even as the outstretched arm of cyclone Galifo swept across the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, downing power lines and flooding roads, its trauma paled in comparison to the jolt that President France Albert Renes announcement that, after 27 years as an all pervasive force in this tiny island nation, he is finally stepping down.

The 69-year-old socialist strongman will hand over power to his long-term vice-president, James Alix Michel. Some commentators have suggested that Michel lacks both the grassroots support and charisma of Rene, leading to speculation that Rene will continue to direct from the back seat for as long as his health will allow.

Known affectionately as "Ti France", Rene was both the second longest reigning head of state in the Commonwealth after Queen Elizabeth II, and second in sub-Saharan Africa behind Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema.

As leader of the Seychelles Peoples' United Party (SPUP), Rene came to power through a coup d'etat on 5 June 1977 - only one year after independence from the British. He later changed his party's name to the more evidently leftist Seychelles Peoples' Progressive Front (SPPF). Initially, he had led his nation of fewer than 85,000 people on a path of one-party state Afro-Stalinism.

Tailored to the needs of a developing microstate, Rene's experiment in socialism was designed to achieve equality of opportunity, social development and a productive economic base. With a current UNDP Human Development Index ranking of 36th in the world and first in Africa, his programme of free social welfare services has produced results comparable with developed countries.

And, whilst pursing a strongly nationalist path, Rene has also managed to maintain relative racial harmony in an ethnically diverse society, thanks largely to the deepening of socio-economic equality - a policy outcome which is in stark contrast to many other island nations such as Fiji and Mauritius.

Submitting to the rigours of multiparty democracy in 1993, Rene's popularity continued and despite a well-organised opposition, he won 54% of the votes in the last presidential election in 2001.

Cold War patronage bankrolled the generous social spending by Ti France, who proved a highly skillful manipulator of the Cold War dynamics.

While collecting an annual US$4.5m from the lease of land to the US Air Force for a tracking station, he came under pressure from an attempted counter-coup led by the infamous Cold War warrior of fortune "Mad" Mike Hoare.

Hoare's band of South African mercenaries, posing as a beer guzzling club Ye Ancient Order of Frothblowers, were foiled at the airport by a contingent of troops sent by Tanzania's Julius Nyerere who was Rene's close ally. However, Seychelles depends upon imports for everything from rice to refrigerators - around 90% of what the country consumes. With the collapse of the USSR, the withdrawal of Cold War financing wrenched a crucial prop from SPPF spending.

Despite the twin economic pillars of top-end tourism and industrial tuna fisheries, the cost of imports coupled with high social spending remains untenable, as evident in the meteoric hike in public debt from 90% of GDP in 1993 to 200% in 2002.

The President's leftist principles have subsequently been forced to marry socialist spending priorities with elements of free market revenue generation.

Even the introduction of legislation to attract foreign direct investment, which tempted Heinz to set-up the world's second largest tuna cannery, has failed to stem the growth of a dynamic illegal trade in foreign currency or prevent the stagnation of the domestic private sector.

In addition, the benefits accruing from these pro-market reforms have consistently favoured foreign investors, while local gains have not been as great as expected. But Renes ability to associate himself personally with the modernisation and social development of Seychelles will prove a hard act to follow.

A June 2003 economic austerity programme announced by his anointed successor Michel, has seen prices rise and fuelled anger among opposition groups. Michel has two years to cement his and the SPPF's status before the scheduled 2006 presidential election in which he is sure to meet strong competition from Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles National Party (SNP).

Ramkalawan, a former Anglican reverend, polled 44% of the votes in 2001 presidential election, the first time Rene had been significantly challenged in the multi-party era.

After several makeovers of name and image, the SNP has now firmly established itself on the political scene. With direct links to the British Liberal Democrats, they are strong promoters of a politically liberal agenda. However, some contradictions exist in the SNP economic programme, which seeks to promote local industry at the same time as advocating a free market macroeconomic stance.