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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARAMARIBO 000090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR  LLUFTIG 
PORT OF SPAIN FOR LEGATT 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON SNAR ASEC NS
SUBJECT: BOUTERSE'S NDP PARTY TURNS UP THE PRESSURE 
 
 
PARAMARIBO 00000090  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
REFTELS: (A) PARAMARIBO 39 (B) PARAMARIBO 43 (C) 05 
PARAMARIBO 751 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Surinamese politics has become 
increasingly rancorous.  The opposition National Democratic 
Party (NDP) is systematically working to exploit unpopular 
decisions taken by the government, with the goal of 
undermining a fragile coalition to provoke new elections. A 
recent chaotic National Assembly (DNA) session where police 
had to remove four NDP members for misconduct and the 
aggressive and unsuccessful NDP push to place Bouterse on 
the Defense Committee stand as examples of provocation. 
With the ruling coalition struggling to connect with the 
public, this political drama looks likely to continue. 
Some observers believe that it is designed to provoke 
unrest and therefore forestall the upcoming trial of 
Bouterse for the murder of 15 opposition members in 
December 1982. End Summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
CHAOS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Tensions between governing New Front Plus and the 
NDP-led opposition in the DNA reached a boiling point on 
February 9 when the session disintegrated into a shouting 
match over how the government is dealing with hundreds of 
recently closed down street vendors and its handling of 
electricity in the district of Nickerie, where rolling 
black-outs were briefly in effect. DNA speaker Paul 
Somohardjo ordered police to remove five opposition 
parliamentarians from the session marred by threats, 
accusations, and the loud banging of name placards.  In a 
noteworthy moment, A-Combination leader, convicted 
narcotics trafficker, and former rebel leader Ronnie 
Brunswijk threatened to throw out a disruptive opposition 
parliamentarian himself if the member did not leave. 
 
¶3. (U) During the same session, NDP parliamentarian Rashied 
Doekhie sought to play the corruption card, effectively 
accusing prominent New Front DNA member and former Deputy 
Speaker Ruth Wijdenbosch of stealing 28,000 SRD (10,000 
USD) from the government when she was overpaid as policy 
adviser at the Ministry of Finance.  Wijdenbosch, prepared 
by advance warning of Doekhie's attack, admitted the 
erroneous salary overpayment, but said she is paying it 
back in installments. 
 
¶4. (U) In mid-January, police began forcibly removing the 
stands of unlicensed street vendors as part of a reordering 
of downtown Paramaribo.  The media highlighted vendors' 
protests for 10 straight days.  Despite a variety of 
proposed solutions, discussions between the enraged vendors 
and the government are at an impasse.  Seeing a political 
opening, the NDP took up the mantle of the vendors and 
framed the issue as an inconsiderate, out-of-touch 
government acting against the average, low-income 
Surinamer's interests.  The opportunity repeated itself 
when students in Nickerie protested rolling electricity 
outages caused by cash shortfalls at the national 
electricity company. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
BOUTERSE DENIED SEAT ON DEFENSE COMMITTEE, UPROAR ENSUES 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The NDP's aggressive attempts to place Bouterse on 
the parliamentary Defense Committee was a provocative ploy 
considering Bouterse's past as a coup leader and military 
strongman.  The New Front blocked Bouterse from joining the 
Defense Committee in 2000 and on January 19 the New Front 
Plus used its majority in the DNA to once again vote down 
Bouterse's committee membership.  Opposition members 
boycotted the vote, calling it an outrage; Bouterse 
threatened that nobody from the Defense Committee would be 
able to set foot on a military base if he were denied a 
seat on the Committee.  On January 31 the same DNA majority 
also stopped Bouterse from serving on an ad hoc Defense 
Budget Committee. 
 
¶6. (U) In protest of the vote, the NDP announced its 
withdrawal from all permanent DNA committees and is 
pressing other opposition parties to do the same. The 
procedural consequences of the NDP decision are still 
unclear.  While the committees should vet legislation 
before its presentation to the full assembly, they have not 
 
PARAMARIBO 00000090  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
traditionally played a strong role.  According to 
parliamentary protocol, committees should consist of four 
majority and three opposition members.  DNA speaker Paul 
Somohardjo said he expects business to move forward as 
usual, while NDP leaders predict serious disruptions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Bouterse has publicly reasserted his desire to sit 
on the Defense Committee, claiming there is nobody better 
qualified.  He said that anybody with an understanding of 
democracy understands that the vote was a joke and promised 
a "political response." In an apparent explanation of his 
consistent absenteeism, Bouterse undercut his own campaign 
to serve by saying that only chitchat and games occur in 
the DNA, in which he has no interest. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
POLITICAL DRAMA LINKED TO THE DECEMBER MURDER TRIALS 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The latest political dramas provoked by Bouterse 
and his NDP party occur against the backdrop of Bouterse's 
possible prosecution for the murder of 15 prominent 
Surinamers opposed to his military rule in December 1982. 
The military court is still deliberating on pre-trial 
defense objections heard last fall. 
 
¶9. (U) While the Government of Suriname appears committed 
to proceeding with the trial despite the risks, a recent 
opinion poll revealed a public largely at odds with this 
decision.  IDOS, a respected independent polling group 
affiliated with the university, carried out a poll in 
Paramaribo, home to roughly half of Suriname's population, 
in the first week of January.  Only one-third of all 
respondents favored a criminal trial.  One-third favored a 
truth commission, which was publicly called for by former 
Minister of Defense Ronald Assen in January, while a third 
felt the issue should be simply laid to rest given the 
lengthy time that had elapsed. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The NDP's strategic attempts to exploit unpopular 
decisions made by the government appear to be taking their 
toll. The poll also showed increased popular support for 
Bouterse's NDP at the expense of President Venetiaan's New 
Front Plus, with 9 percent of New Front voters declaring 
themselves prepared to swing to the NDP if an election were 
held today.  A full 62 percent of respondents disapprove of 
the President and his cabinet and 78 percent characterize 
Venetiaan's policy as vague and unclear.  (See septel for 
complete poll results). 
 
¶11. (SBU) Since doubling its DNA seats in the May 2005 
election, the NDP has ratcheted up its criticism of the 
government and worked hard to unite its fellow opposition 
parties to strengthen its hand.  In addition to the above- 
mentioned situation of street vendors and energy shortages, 
the NDP has also used hikes in gasoline prices to criticize 
the government. (See ref C).  While the NDP exploits 
sometimes fizzle, such as failed street protests in October 
and November, the party's efforts to address everyday 
issues and problems can still resonate with average voters. 
 
¶12. (SBU) According to an influential weekly editorial page 
which questioned Bouterse's devotion to democracy, the 
NDP's end game is to use these issues to create enough 
dissatisfaction to force an early election (despite the 
lack of a clear constitutional mechanism to do so).  The 
editorial made the point that although the next election is 
scheduled for 2010, with NDP chairman Bouterse likely 
facing a murder trial before then, the NDP is very eager to 
see early elections. 
 
¶13. (SBU) It is unlikely that the political polarization 
will end soon.  The NDP-led opposition has said that the 
government has until February 14 to develop satisfactory 
solutions to the street vendor issue and energy problems in 
Nickerie or it will once again face serious disruptions 
during the next session.  There are also reports that the 
vendors are planning street protests on February 14 with 
support from the NDP.  The government, meanwhile, has 
failed to reach out to the public to articulate a vision 
for the future.  One Minister complained to the Ambassador 
about the government's inability to mount an effective 
information campaign to tout macroeconomic improvements. 
 
--------- 
COMMENT 
 
PARAMARIBO 00000090  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
--------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The NDP's political gambits appear to be part a 
concerted and aggressive campaign to undermine the fragile 
majority of the New Front Plus, force new elections and 
form a government.  In the context of the upcoming December 
murder trial, NDP political actions can be seen as an 
extension of party chair Bouterse's suspected efforts to 
create a critical mass of unrest and instability in order 
to force the government to end his criminal trial.  The GOS 
has given the NDP an advantageous environment in which to 
operate as the government's popularity is suffering from 
its apparent inability to articulate and justify its 
policies and decisions.  The arrogance and isolation 
exhibited by New Front leadership indicates their continued 
failure to internalize last year's election, in which they 
lost ten seats and their majority, as a major defeat. 
 
BARNES