SURINAME’S Independent Elections Authority (OKB) has come under fire from various quarters after it allowed ‘A Combination’ to participate in the elections in the electoral district of Sipaliwini even though the party was late in submitting the names of candidates.
According to sources, ‘A Combination’ was not allowed to participate in three other electoral districts because they too were late in submitting candidates’ lists. It is yet unclear whether they were allowed to participate in the electoral process in Sipaliwini. The ‘A Combination’ is a Maroon party led by Ronnie Brunswijk. The party has captured seven seats and has joined with Mega–Combination, led by Desi Bouterse.
The OKB on Friday declared the outcome of all the elections in Suriname to be binding.  The declaration was made in the banqueting hall of the Torarica Hotel in downtown Paramaribo.
According to our source, the OKB was guided by “the general interest of experiencing democracy,” and the fact that no party that participated in the election in Sipaliwini has protested against A Combination’s participation in that district.
An Editorial in the English bulletin of the Surinamese daily, De Ware Tijd (DWT) yesterday said that the OKB’s declaration that the outcome of the elections was binding is inconsequential, and that the electoral body had blundered. The newspaper accused the OKB of fearing violence in the district and thus allowing voters to cast votes where the elections regulation was violated.
The newspaper said that the OKB has failed by reckoning with social conditions and democratic experience. “If the elections regulation has been violated, actions should be taken against this. The excuse that political parties did not protest against mistakes at the district elections bureau is invalid,” DWT said in its editorial.
The Editorial said that the task of the OKB is to “keep an eye” on orderly elections. “It cannot therefore put this responsibility on the shoulders of political parties,” the Editorial said.
Meanwhile, DWT reported that the political party, National Union (NU) will seek justice at the Organization of American States (OAS), since it cannot agree with the OKB’s decision declaring the elections in Sipaliwini binding.
According to DWT, on Friday a “visibly furious” executive board member, Laurents Perreira announced that the State of Suriname will be taken to the regional organization. According to the report, the NU expects it will get a claim for damages of SRD 2.3 million from the OAS. This amount represents monies spent on preparations for the general elections.
OKB-chair Jennifer van Dijk-Silos is reported to have said that she felt unhappy as a lawyer since the decision to allow the participation of the A Combination in the Sipaliwini Bureau was completely against her lawyer’s principles but that she believes that one cannot make a rigid argument as “the law is not always the law certainly not when it horribly affects the democratic experience of people. The OKB has therefore opted pragmatically and in the country’s interest.”