Seychelles’ President Michel surprised all when he announced his resignation

Even as Cape Verde holds its presidential vote today, analysts are likely to be comparing last Tuesday’s developments in the Seychelles and Gabon.In an extraordinary move, Seychellois President James Alix Michel, 72, surprised all when he announced his resignation.

Sounding very different from many an African president, Michel said during a televised address that he would leave office on October 16. He said he would do so in deference to the country’s constitution. Michel will be replaced by vice-president and finance minister, the Ugandan-born Danny Faure, who has held the position since 2010.

The leader told his compatriots that according to the revised constitution, he had exceeded his term in office. He cited the amendment passed by the national assembly in April, which capped presidential and vice-presidential tenure at two terms. Michel, a teacher by profession, served as VP to France-Albert René between 1996 and 2004. He has led the Indian Ocean archipelago from April 2004.

In actual terms, President Michel had by the end of last year already served two terms, and was well into his third term by the time he was re-elected in December 2015. The amended law did not cut short his latest term.

A MEANS

In one of the most inspiring speeches made in Africa in recent times, Michel said power was not an aim in itself but a means to do good for the people. “The interest of the nation comes first,” he said, adding a welcome twist to African statesmanship.

Paradoxically, on the same day, Michel’s Gabonese counterpart Ali Bongo was being controversially sworn in office after a hotly contested August 27 vote. The inauguration in Libreville was held amid protests by the opposition and international community. Not surprisingly, the event was attended by only a handful of African leaders, with most regional and continental heavyweights keeping off.

It also came soon after Gabon’s top court validated the 57-year-old incumbent’s poll win. The decision extended the Bongo family’s stranglehold over the country into a fifth decade. Still – and clearly not without a touch of irony – amid the ceremonial boom of canons, Bongo pledged “to devote all my efforts for the good of the Gabonese.” He promised to respect and defend the constitution and rule of law.

Intriguingly, the Gabon Government asked the International Criminal Court to open investigations “without delay” into the unrest sparked by the announcement of the disputed poll.

LATER DISCLOSED

To the surprise of many, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda later disclosed that the government accused the opposition leader Jean Ping of “incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity”. Cape Verde – the tiny archipelago – is among the most politically stable states on the continent. Today’s presidential poll will be the third on the island-nation this year, and follows parliamentary elections held in March and municipal ones last month.

The election comes soon after the death of former President Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro on September 16 aged 72. According to the electoral agency, 314,073 people are expected to vote alongside another 47,133 in the diaspora.

The contenders are President Jorge Carlos Fonseca, Prof Albertino Graça and war veteran Joaquim Monteiro. In the meantime, the Somali presidential and parliamentary elections that were slated for September and October have been pushed back by 30 days “due to lack of preparation, clan differences and security threats”.

The presidential vote will now, hopefully, be held on November 30, while the parliamentary one will be carried out between October 23 and November 10.

It is anyone’s guess if those dates will hold.