(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – In very strong words President Desi Bouterse reiterated that Suriname is a sovereign nation that need not answer to the Netherlands. ‘The time when we had to answer to the people on the North Sea is over’, the Head of State said in Parliament.
He emphasized that the Netherlands will have to accept that Suriname will not name an Ambassador for the Netherlands for now and will keep relations on the level of a chargé d’affaires. On the first day of the budget debates last Monday, a few legislators expressed their concern over the government’s foreign policy. Relations with the Netherlands remain a thorny issue especially since many people of Surinamese descent reside over there. ‘We understand that our diplomatic representation in the Netherlands needs to be reinforced and we have already studied a few options. However, currently we will retain relations on the level of a chargé d’affaires,’ Bouterse emphasized in response.
Both SP Lower House legislator Harry van Bommel and Roy Ho Ten Soeng chair of the Suriname Participation Body (SIO) were disappointed over Bouterse’s statements. ‘Suriname and the Netherlands need to find a solution to the political stalemate. One of the countries will have to make the first move by lifting their diplomatic representation to the level of Ambassador. That would send the right signal,’ both officials stated. Bouterse, however, emphasized that Suriname meets the international requirements to be considered an independent nation. ‘The government of Suriname has effective and real authority over the people in its territory and this authority must not be exercised by a third party.’ Since he is President, it is his primary task to defend the nation against denials of his authority from outside. He will answer only to the Surinamese people. The President read passages from the Constitution which are proof of Suriname’s sovereignty.
Since he took office two years ago, Bouterse failed to name an Ambassador for the Netherlands. The former motherland responded to the controversial Amnesty Act by withdrawing its Ambassador. Van Bommel promises he will do his utmost from the Lower House to prepare the first move by the Netherlands. He will call on both nations on 25 November to end the stalemate.
