President Michel appointed a new, seven-member media commission in January, which will serve a dual role of serving as a watchdog and dealing with complaints, and encouraging the development of the press by, for example, ensuring that official press releases and invitations to press conferences are sent to all media, not just state-run outlets. Headed by Ibrahim Afif, the commission is a toothless body with no legal powers, but will mediate in disputes in a bid to prevent clashes going to court by requesting that apologies be issued or statements retracted. The commission is also charged with protecting constitutional rights to freedom of expression and access to information, which is a positive step-if carried through-as these rights have been abused in the past. However, while some of the commission's nominees were well-received by all sides, the SNP, which has fought a long but not always successful battle for media freedom (including a failed bid to win permission to open a radio station)-was highly critical of other nominees, alleging them to be PP partisans. One further slot on the commission has been allocated to the Seychelles Media Association launched in May 2010 to bring together individuals in the sector.