Seychelles MPs Reject Bid to Repeal Firearms Inquiry Amendment, 17–13

Seychelles' National Assembly rejected an opposition motion to annul an amendment to the rules governing a firearms-import inquiry, with 17 lawmakers voting against the motion and 13 supporting it, according to a 5 November report by Seychelles Nation. No members abstained.

The motion was introduced by opposition leader Bernard Georges and seconded by Gervais Henrie. It sought to annul Statutory Instrument 63 of 2026, the Defence (Board of Inquiry on Importation of Firearms) (Amendment) Regulations. The Official Gazette's 2026 register independently lists that instrument under the same title. The vote was about the **2026 amendment**, not a vote to approve or publish the inquiry's confidential findings.

The result is a new parliamentary development after President Patrick Herminie received the board's final report on 30 October. In TFNOS's earlier report, the inquiry recommended clearer procedures for issuing, handling and storing weapons and the development of a modern armoury. At that point the president had not decided whether to release the full findings.

The presidency's 30 October statement confirms that the board was established under a separate instrument, S.I. 103 of 2025, and that its remit included the authorisation and financing of firearms imports, storage arrangements and the involvement of foreign personnel in Operation Black Iron. These were subjects of inquiry, not findings of criminal guilt. Seychelles Nation reported that lawmakers had also rejected an opposition attempt to annul the **original 2025 instrument** in April 2026; that was a different motion from the latest vote.

Georges argued in the November debate that legislative authority rests with the National Assembly, according to the local report. The parliamentary division establishes that the annulment motion failed; it does not itself settle every legal argument about delegated regulations or determine responsibility for any firearms imports.

The full 2026 amendment text and official division record should be compared with the published parliamentary account, and any later court challenge or presidential decision on releasing the inquiry report should be checked. No new public release of the board's detailed findings has been established in this reporting.