DA’91 and SPA absent at meeting with president

DA’91 and the Surinamese Labor Party (SPA) were absent at Monday’s meeting between the nation’s political parties and President Desi Bouterse. The upcoming elections and the current situation regarding the COVID-19crisis were discussed at the meeting. DA’91 chairwoman Angelic del Castilho explained that her party had not received an invitation while SPA chairman Guno Castelen pointed out that he was not present at the meeting due to a communication error. The AntiFraud Platform Elections 2020 had recently presented several proposals to the head of state. “The AFP is a collaboration between various political parties namely: VHP, NPS, PL, ABOP, DOE, PALU, DA’91, DNL, Strei!, PRO, A20 and SPA. The platform sent a letter to the president so he should have invited the entire platform. I find that the manner in which parties were invited disrespectful,” said Del Castilho who pointed out that the invitations were sent via text message and WhatsApp. She pointed out that the invitations should have been sent in a letter to the chairpersons of the political parties. She also pointed out that the president is dividing the platform because he had not invited everybody. SPA chairman Guno Castelen explained that he initially also assumed that his party had not been invited to the meeting. As it turns out he did not get the invitation on time due to a communication error. He explained that he would ask his colleagues from the other parties to tell him what was said during the meeting with the president.