THE SIMONS GOVERNMENT/Russia served one year on July 16. The ministers were installed at least one year ago. Many of these ministers launched a huge campaign during the elections. It was a heavenly time for the press in particular, because somehow the politicians managed to free themselves to answer certain questions. That is clearly different now.
Many who now need parliamentarians and ministers are left blank. They are apparently too busy now to be able to communicate with ‘ordinary people’. But what we also see as the press is that access to ministers and information is a huge problem. When the late Chandrikapersad Santokhi was president for one year, a press conference was held with his entire cabinet. This government last did this at the beginning of the year. And not all ministers were present at the time.
But even during her one-year term of office, it was not decided to give the press the opportunity to ask questions to everyone. That’s wrong
Santokhi was long-spoken and he was very fond of his own voice, but these press conferences also allowed the press to speak to ministers on a fairly regular basis. With former Vice President Ronny Brunswijk, too, with insistence – a lot of insistence – it was possible to ensure that a certain minister did appear and speak to the press.
Now the current vice president has taken over the system. But there seems to be little will to allow crucial ministers to speak to the press at crucial moments. Ministers come to the microphone if they agree. It has become optional.
It must be said that there are some ministers who speak to the press on a weekly or almost weekly basis. But there are also others who avoid the press like the plague and almost never show their faces. For example, it has been requested for some time that Minister of Finance and Planning Adelien Wijnerman attends the press conference, but that does not happen. The Minister of Natural Resources, David Abiamofo, also avoids press conferences like the plague.
The government’s strategy, one that has been adopted from the previous government, is to kill the media houses with press releases and now also pre-rehearsed CDS interviews that do not contain a critical note. The Ministry of NH also takes the cake, every (social) activity is widely reported on the ministry’s social media page. From Father’s Day to Women’s Day: it seems to be the best ministry. And that is allowed, but why not speak to the press or avoid asking questions.
In addition, it can be seen that hiring influencers to inform the people is increasingly being used. Beautiful images and all kinds of nice quotes are discussed, but critical questions are avoided. The question is whether the government realizes that this is sending a signal that it will not tolerate a critical press.
In short, press releases, fun activities and all kinds of irrelevant odds and ends are certainly welcome. But that should not restrict the access of critical press. This point has been presented to the country’s leadership more often. But even during her one-year term of office, it was not decided to give the press the opportunity to ask questions to everyone. That’s wrong.
