(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO — “It cannot be maintained that the results are satisfying. It could be nostalgia, but we are not under the impression that the current Parliament demonstrates the qualities of deliberations we had expected. The very sharp polarization we are constantly experiencing make us less joyful than one could have expected from such a balanced rational composition”. President Desi Bouterse made these critical remarks during his congratulatory speech to the Surinamese parliament that commemorated its 145th anniversary on Thursday. Both opposition and coalition members called Bouterse’s remarks “unheard of, misplaced, uncouth and totally out of the order. The President hopes though that Parliamentarians will shortly realize that they have to unite to “pull the wagon forth” and further develop Suriname.
At the commemoration of Parliament’s 145th anniversary, the military coup of 1980 that ousted the democratically elected government and closed down Parliament a few months later was not mentioned at all by either Speaker Jenny Geerlings-Simons or President Bouterse who committed the coup. The only thing Simons said was that in the period 1980-1987 Parliament “was inactive”. According to her, the current Parliamentarians have the task of further strengthening the institute via joint efforts without observing political origin.
