Day: June 5, 2023

Mogadishu (SONNA)-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Federal Government of Somalia, Daud Aweis Jama on Monday welcomed Catriona Laing, the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia after landing at Aden Abdulle International Airport.

‘ I am very to be here and look forward to working with national and International Partners in support of the Somali People and Government’, She said.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Catriona Laing of the United Kingdom as his new Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) on May 3rd, 2023. She succeeds James Swan of the United States of America, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and steadfast leadership of UNSOM during his tenure.

Ms. Laing brings to this position over 35 years of experience in diplomacy, development and international relations, including having held United Kingdom government policy roles in various departments at the national and international levels. Most recently, from November 2018 until April 2023, she served as British High Commissioner to Nigeria. Prior to that, she was the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe from 2014 until 2018.

Source: Somali National News Agency

The President of the United Seychelles (US) party, Patrick Herminie, has announced he will put his candidacy within his party to stand as a presidential candidate in the 2025 elections.

Herminie made the announcement in the second part of the 36th Annual Congress of the US at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS) on Saturday.

This comes after a resolution adopted by the Central Committee in the first part of the Congress. The resolution was to launch the process for the selection of the candidates for the 2025 elections. This is a process that will take up to three to six months. The confirmation of the candidates will be announced in an extraordinary congress next year.

“The congress has put an obligation on us to launch the process to choose our candidates for the presidential and national assembly elections. This is an invitation for all members who feel they are capable to come forward and submit their candidatures,” said Herminie.

He then announced that “today I would like to tell you that I personally have the intention of submitting my candidature.”

Herminie told supporters that “we should not be afraid because the new US will judge you on your performance and hard work and not on the opinion of one or two individuals.”

The sub-article 5.17, 31.2 and 31.3 of the party’s constitution addresses its internal process to select candidates for both the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Seychelles presidential elections are expected to take place in 2025 and United Seychelles.

Presidential elections in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, take place every five years.

There are currently three main political parties in the country – Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (Seychelles Democratic Alliance), which is the ruling party, United Seychelles, the main opposition party, and One Seychelles, a smaller party.

In the last elections in October 2020, President Wavel Ramkalawan, from the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa, won 54.9 percent of the votes followed by Danny Faure of the United Seychelles with 43.5 percent.

The LDS won 20 out of the 26 directly elected seats in the National Assembly and five proportionately elected seats.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Seychelles’ environment ministry continues to explore new ways to address the issue of plastic waste through new restrictions to be imposed on the use, possession, and commercial distribution of plastics and plastic products still in circulation, a high government official said on Monday.

Environment minister Flavien Joubert made the announcement in his message to commemorate World Environment Day, which is marked on June 5, annually.

In his message for World Environment Day, Joubert said that today is a good day to “remind ourselves that at this very moment, plastics and their hazardous additives continue to warm the climate, damage human health, and destroy ecosystems.”

“Plastics are not only found in landfills, but, they are also present in the oceans and in our bodies,” said Joubert.

Under the campaign ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’, the theme for this year’s Environment Day focuses on solutions to plastic pollution.

“Whilst not a producer, Seychelles is an importer of plastics and plastic products. The protection of our natural environment including the marine environment is, therefore, crucial and remains one of our top priorities as we depend on it to sustain our economy through the fisheries and tourism industries,” said Joubert.

In 2017, Seychelles’ government placed a ban on the importation and sales of plastic bags, and plastic utensils including cups, forks, Styrofoam takeaway boxes, and plates. This was followed by a ban on single-use plastic straws in June 2019 and on balloons in 2021.

“I call upon every one of you, to reduce our plastic usage, recycle and dispose of plastic waste responsibly. Let us come together as a community, as a nation to tackle this issue,” said Joubert.

Aside from addressing the plastic issue, the Seychelles government is making strides to move towards a paperless economy, with one of the biggest achievements being at the airport.

In August 2021, Seychelles announced the roll-out of paperless entry for international arrivals in Seychelles. As of November 2022, citizens of Seychelles and permit holders starting their travel from Seychelles were required to submit embarkation information digitally as they prepare to exit the country.

In a bid to encourage recycling and minimise the amount of waste in Seychelles’ landfills, the country encourages the redeeming of PET and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans.

Source: Seychelles News Agency