The people of Seychelles need to understand the
Constitutional status of the country since the President’s announcement of his
resignation and no one is filling the information void created.
So let’s see what the Constitution says. Article 55(1)
“where the President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the
Vice-President shall assume the office of President for the unexpired term of
the President with effect from the death, resignation or removal from office of
the President”.
Mr. Michel announced his resignation from Office of
President on 27th September 2016 which resignation, will take effect on 16th
October 2016 and also announced that Mr. Faure will run the country as
President for the unexpired term of his presidency.
Article 66 (11) “Where the Vice-President assumes the office
of the President under article 55 (1)-
(a) The
President (the new President?) shall, with the approval of the National
Assembly, appoint a person to be Vice-President;
(b) The person
who at the time is designated Minister shall immediately cease to be designated
Minister and the President (new President) shall designate a person, who may be
the first-mentioned person, for approval by the National Assembly as designated
Minister.
Two important questions presently preoccupy the people. The
first is what happens if before the 16th of October 2016 President Michel
dissolves the National Assembly? And the second question is “what will happen
if the National Assembly does not give its approval for the appointment of a
Vice-President?
The outgoing President cannot dissolve the National Assembly
because the Vice-President who assumes the office of President under article
55(1) needs the National Assembly to approve the appointment of a
Vice-President and a designated Minister.
The second question is equally clear article 66 (11)(a) “The
President shall, (mandatory) with the approval of the National Assembly,….”
Which means that the approval of the National Assembly must come before the
appointment. So, if the National Assembly does not approve there can be no
appointment.
Now for the third question what happens next? Mr. Faure can break the Check Mate situation
by;
(1) Appointing
someone from the Opposition to be his Vice-President who is presently an MNA
because under article 66 A (5) “A person
who is a member of the National Assembly or the Judiciary shall upon becoming
Vice-President cease to be a member of the National Assembly or Judiciary.”
(2) Appointing
someone from the Opposition who is not an MNA as his Vice-President.
(3) Going back
to the people by declaring another presidential election, because article 66 A
(4) says “A candidate at an election for President shall designate a person as
the candidate’s Vice-President and on the election of the candidate as
President the person designated as Vice-President by the candidate becomes
Vice-President”.
Option 3 above is contained in Act 14 of 1996 which allows
the President to go back to the people for a fresh mandate before the
expiration of the presidential term, and he does not need the approval of the
National Assembly for his Vice-President.
Alexia G. Amesbury
