VICTORIA, Seychelles — Independent presidential candidate Charles De Clarisse, running alongside Allen Gervais Commettant, has pledged to make corruption his first target and to overhaul housing finance if elected in the September 27 vote, arguing that the country has been “under a dark cloud for 48 years” and needs an efficient change.
Speaking in his candidate interview, the engineer and former senior executive at the Public Utilities Corporation, Indian Ocean Tuna and Eden Island said ministers in his government would be required to declare their assets, and those of their families, immediately on taking office. “Fighting corruption from the top down is far more effective than trying to tackle it at the bottom,” he said, adding that anyone found guilty must face the consequences. He also criticised the high cost of foreign travel, questioning why 15 officials had travelled to meet the Pope and why the President travels abroad so frequently.
On housing, Mr De Clarisse proposed zero per cent interest on loans from the Housing Finance Company and the Property Management Corporation, with borrowers paying only a one-off administrative fee. Applicants who have already overpaid on interest would be refunded the difference. On the cost of living, he said his government would focus on lowering costs rather than raising salaries, including using waste incineration to generate electricity and save an estimated R15 million a year, and reducing the SeyPec tax contribution passed on to the PUC.
On drugs, he proposed a rehabilitation centre and a suboxone-based programme to wean users off harder substances, and to reintegrate recovering addicts into the workforce to weaken demand. He also pledged to bring closure to the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission within his first year, saying the 2020 coup had left deep cracks in the national foundation that must be filled before the country can move forward.
