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an announcement at the first anniversary of Independence that the two parties of the coalition had fused in the better interests of Seychelles. He failed to get agreement on this, but believed, nonetheless, he was about to take an important preliminary step.
step. A backbencher was to introduce à motion congratulating the coalition on its achievements and proposing an amendment to the Constitution which would postpone elections for five years after 1979. He thought this would receive majority support including that of Rene; as indeed did a long-headed man like Chetty in a conversation with me.
4. This attempt to prolong parliament, presented as a move towards dictatorship together with familiar and irresistible criticism of Mancham's lifestyle, enabled Rene to offer a plausible justification, certainly locally, for the coup.
5. The coup was well executed and the coup-makers quickly established control. The armouries, the key to the operation, fell within half an hour. Other strategic points, like the radio station and the airport, were simultaneously invested. Early communiques spoke of a body of a body of 200 assisted by the police. It is likely that the numbers were fewer and at the beginning authority was thinly spread over the three main islands, Nonetheless, only a handful of people were killed (including three policemen and one irregular) and control was maintained.
6. The first shots had been fired about 2am. The Cable & Wireless Manager persuaded one of the commanders to leave the efficient telephone system in operation, thus enabling us to keep in touch with the action. I had been alerted by my US colleague, who had found a wandering minister (Moulinie) of the old regime in his compound;
/others heard
CONFIDENTIAL