By: Staff Writer
January 12, 2021
Protestors took to the streets in Suriname over the weekend to protest prime minister Chan Santokhi’s government’s policies.
Siebrano Pique, campaign organiser, planned another protest again for this past Monday against the policy of the Surinamese government, but cancelled the in person protest and settled for a Facebook protest as his Facebook page stated.
He said in a conversation with Star News on Saturday, his protest, which mobilized between 100 and 200 people who all shouted “Down with Chan,” that he denies that it was a protest supported by the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP).
“You may have seen NDP staff here by accident, but there are also people from other parties. Everyone feels it. We are all Surinamese”, Pique told Star News .
Star News also reports that it is not surprising that the NDP is mentioned; one of the protagonists of the protest is Patrica van Ommeren, an NDP prominent who was appointed as policy advisor in the run-up to the elections and who donated money for NDP supporters during the election campaign.
The Santokhi government has not responded to calls from Caribbean Magazine Plus for comment. Most of their emails came back bounced and the ones that went through were unanswered.
Pique’s Facebook page on the other hand said about Monday’s planned protest, in an erratic and scrambled rant: “SURINAMERS 🇸🇷 SURINAMERS 🇸🇷 SURINAMERS 🇸🇷
My urgent Protest promotion is this afternoon at 2 pm via Facebook yes I said via Facebook how?
Where you feel more free
Come and talk, come and talk
We got them, WO POT DEN NA WROKO, WO HOR DEN BEZIG, a media pr de prati wi na drape wi sa set scary SURINAMERS 🇸🇷 I’m taking y’all
No covid19rules but MB s
Government everyone’s responsibility
Corona or no Corona we all die a day,
But PINAREN is a choice and we don’t CHOOSE for that, the population needs you. The wan sa poti ju drape
Read it carefully.
Step 1 out of your displeasure in the most knowledgeable way possible in comments
Your concerns points, ask questions, people we have to solve this together,
Don’t mind their Panic football, stay focused on SURINAME 🇸🇷 no meki de prati wi so react freely do so all of us.
Do it here Right for 1 justice for all.
Strey deh strey wi no sa fredeh GADO THE WI FESI MAN HERI LIBI TE NA DEDEH WI SA FETI GI SRANANG.”
The proposed Facebook protest started with a live broadcast of Pique on his Facebook page which up to 12pm was viewed by at least 325 people. You can view the recording here at his Facebook page.