The island of the row hypothesis could decide the next president

An almost sterile small island of the Indian Ocean has become a battlefield during this weekend elections in Seychelles, which aroused global environmental concern.

The Assumption Island, in the Western Indian Ocean, has little at first glance which would even place the most curious and intrepid pulse races.

Stripped almost naked and warmer, with few artificial structures, it covers an area similar to the Heathrow airport in London and is probably only slightly more picturesque.

However, this anomaly of the tropical island – both geographically distant, and far from the popular ideal of lush paradise – has become a hotspot for geopolitical powers and eco -warriers, as well as a political lightning rod in Seychelles, the country which owns it.

Located 1,140 km (700 miles) from the most populous main island in Seychelles, Mahé, Assumption, the Assumption Island is a corallin finger in the shape of a low level scrub sausage, fringed of casuarina.

It was ravaged for its guano rich in nitrogen (excrement of sea birds) and agricultural use ended decades ago.

But now, the strategic position and the ecological value of the island’s hypothesis are invaluable.

The island is close to the silk route of this century – the lively commercial shipping routes carrying manufactured goods and materials from East to Africa and beyond. India wanted to build a military base on the hypothesis but was rejected.

The permanent or de facto property has so far been outside the cards thanks to the pressure of the public proud of Seychellois. While the small Republic goes to the polls in presidential and parliamentary bulletins, the hypothesis is a key electoral contact point.

“At least under my surveillance, there will never be a foreign military base in Seychelles,” President Wavel Ramkalawan told BBC News on the eve of the surveys. “We are not interested in geopolitics. We stay outside.”

Thus, the lease of the Assumption Island, or at least a part, to the Royal Family Qatari aroused sensitivities. Via an investment company in the Middle East, Assets Group, the Qataris is currently building an exclusive luxury station of 40 volules, with an improved concrete landing track capable of receiving executive jets, far from prying eyes.

“The hypothesis has one of the longest beaches in Seychelles, which is probably one of the nesting beaches for the most important green turtles in our country,” said conservation activist Lucie Harter. “It’s a really important place to preserve.”

Above all, the Assumption Island is the entrance door of the Atoll Aldabra listed by UNESCO, just 27 km (17 miles) in the north. One of the most virgin and fragile ecosystems in the world, Aldabra is home to 400 species found anywhere else on the planet. Sir David Attentborough described him as “one of the biggest natural treasures in the world”.

But noisy neighbors are likely to disturb the delicate balance of nature.

“We saw this image of a turtle shell that was broken by construction machines,” said Ms. Harter. “Where is surveillance? There is no transparency. The way these decisions are made is completely under the table.”

A notice of arrest on development, issued by the country’s planning authority in May this year, seems to have been ignored. Construction work continues.

Last week, two campaign groups, friends of Adabra and Seychelles at heart, filed an injunction against the government at the Constitutional Court of the country to stop the project, pending a more complete and verifiable environmental impact study and guarantees that international observers will guarantee nature.

Ramkalawan, an ordered Anglican priest who signed the agreement with Qatar last year, is unrepentant. He quickly stressed that distant seychelles, with a population of just over 120,000, are faced with unique challenges. The hypothesis lease, involving the occupation of Qatari for 70 years with a deposit of $ 20 million (15 million pounds sterling, was a simple calculation.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. “We have all these Hilton hotels. The Qataris bring a (luxury reception operator) Rosewood as a hotel company that will manage it. We have to look for investments so that we survive.”

The clerk and his party, Lingon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), won the power five years ago on a strong anti-corruption ticket, assuming an office in the middle of a world pandemic.

COVID-19 quickly emptied the hotels and guest houses of the seychelles dependent on tourism and, shortly after, the public chests. However, despite the agile response of his government and the remarkably rapid economic rebound in Seychelles, its popularity vacillates.

The protection of the hypothesis is more convincing for many voters than the positive economic indicators of their country: moderate gross national debt compared to GDP (58%) – well below the much larger and more developed economies; GDP growth of FMI 5.8% FMI this year; Rebuilded foreign reserves ($ 800 million); A low unemployment rate (3.5%) and a recent upgrading of the risks of foreign investors by the “stable” fitch ratings.

The figures can lie, insists that the main challenger of Ramkalawan for the presidency, Dr. Patrick Herminie, head of the opposition United Seychelles (United States).

“We are very skeptical about all these notes,” he says. “We become poorer. People cannot afford two meals a day. These notes are based on statistics given by this government. And this government is known for cooking books.” The government denies any reprehensible act.

Many believe that the row of the hypothesis could help sweep Dr. Herminie in power, when he campaigns to clean politics and rid the public administration of corruption.

He told the BBC that his own arrest two years ago suspected of using witchcraft to a political gain “shocked”. “I was even more shocked than the president believed in fact that a coup could be done using witchcraft. And the mandate was even more ridiculous – they came here to search for human bodies and dead bones.”

Medic’s party, a new marking of the deceased president France-Albert René SPPF socialist notoriously repressive, always proudly invokes the name and image of René. He is committed to an increase in René-Esque well-being, reducing retirement age to 63, reducing the rates of 40% island buses and increasing social security benefits.

Herminie promised, however, there will be no return to the dark past of the Seychelles which included the murder, exile and the disappearance of political dissidents.

Such insurances have encouraged certain flag bearers for the Ramkalwan government to change allegiance, notably Alexander Pierre, brain of the LDS victorious electoral campaign five years ago. His supporters accuse him of betrayal, while he accuses the topping government and of delivering only a third of his promises as a manifesto after five years.

For some, the agreement on the Assumption Island looks too much like a broken promise.

According to first 11 presidential hopes – one for 7,000 voters for all 7,000 – eight remain in the race. A runoff of the second round is possible if the initial survey does not produce any winner. Voters will also choose members for their National Assembly with 26 places.

The owner of the Firebrand newspaper and the independent presidential candidate, Ralph Volcère, used his weekly publication to denounce the priest -president as a selfish autocrat – and has since been banished from press calls from the Chamber of State.

“Each project, each sector, corruption is there,” explains Volcère, an aberrant electoral value but a manufacturer of potential second round.

“What I fight is justice,” he said. “You cannot bypass the legal process. No matter who you are.”

However, Volcere himself has the fire for having defended the cause of Mukesh Valabhji-a wealthy businessman from Seychellois and former adviser to the deceased president René in trials for illegal weapons. He also awaits a second trial on accusations of corruption, alongside the former First Lady Sarah René and others, in which Valabhji is accused of having syphoned tens of millions of dollars of Emirati money. He denies any reprehensible act.

The principal of volcère policies is the decriminalization of recreational cannabis, which, according to him, would put the Seychelles drug lords and would bring down the high number of people of work addicted to drugs – currently at 10%, according to official government data.

A large part of the heroine landing on these islands is taken from the shipping routes which pass near the Assumption Island. No one has yet found a way to stop it. Many suspicious suspicions are to be blamed, but fear to name the names.

“What has been missing for a very, a very long time,” explains Volcère, “is good governance, transparency and responsibility. If it is put into practice, we are 50%.”

This weekend elections can give a clearer idea to know if it is likely or not.