Political parties and unions reject statements about the Military Court
Several political parties and the C-47 labor union federation on Monday expressed their disapproval regarding the statements about the Military Court that were made by members of the National Democratic Party (NDP). The Military Court will be in session on January 22 and Desi Bouterse plans on attending this session.
The party for Democracy and Development in Unity (DOE) issued a statement addressed at the president and the chairwoman of parliament, indicating that it was horrified to hear about the inflammatory behavior and insults that were mainly aimed at the judiciary.
“The National Assembly, the government and the judiciary are the foundation of our constitutional state. Insulting one of them is therefore an intrusion on our constitutional state. It also violates the feeling of mutual respect, moral and decency within the community. We therefore urge you to rectify this and to distance yourself from this incitement and the insults,” said DOE in its statement. The Progressive Reform Party (VHP) also urged everybody to obey the constitutional state and to respect the independence of the judiciary. The VHP pointed out that the judiciary must do its job undisturbed, without fear and independently. The orange party also mentioned that the integrity and independence of the judiciary are the pillars of the Surinamese nation. The VHP urged the government to guarantee the independence of the judiciary in accordance with various UN conventions. “During the weekend the C-47 condemned the intimidating statements about the judiciary that were made and that people plan on organizing a demonstration so that they can escort Bouterse to the Military Court. The judiciary is the third pillar of the democracy in this country and must be able to do its job in a peaceful manner. We therefore condemn each form of intimidation or interference,” Dayanand Dwarka, secretary of C-47, told Times of Suriname.
Dwarka pointed out that the labor union federation would not take any action yet regarding the matter but that it will keep following the developments closely. “There has not been any official meeting with the unions but we will follow the issue closely and when we notice that the judiciary is being undermined or that a deliberate attempt is made to intimidate the judiciary, the unions will stand up against that. Nobody is allowed to mess with our judiciary,” said Dwarka.