THE POLITICAL THEATRE The National Assembly reached a sad new low of hypocrisy in recent days. ABOP leader Ronnie Brunswijk climbed the barricades to complain that fellow party members in director positions are being systematically ‘criminalized’. With a capriciousness that is now well known from him, he pointed out, among other things, the troubles at the Telecommunications Authority of Suriname (TAS), where, according to him, director Wendy Jap-A-Joe has been shown in a bad light.
Also with regard to Canawaima, where there is also a problem between the chairman of the supervisory board and management, and the recent one dyugudyugu around Grassalco, he pointed the finger at others, while his people were calling the shots there. Brunswijk sees the splinter in someone else’s eye, but categorically refuses to see the gigantic beam(s) in his own eye.
It is time for the political top to stop crying in the benches of parliament
If Brunswijk is really concerned about mismanagement and ‘antics’ at state-owned companies, he should look in his own backyard. The recent, shameful troubles at the Energy Companies Suriname (EBS) – where his own brother Leo is the director – speak volumes. Where is the indignation of the Abop leader while there is one misrepresentation after another under the leadership of his brother?
Leo’s recent scandalous outburst against the critical parliament of which Ronnie is a member is yet another low point. But he doesn’t say anything about that. When it concerns his own family or party loyalists, control is suddenly an “act of enmity.” As soon as difficult questions are asked about non- or poorly functioning Abop pawns, he does not answer and it is suddenly called ‘criminalization’.
The bitter reality is that society has been held hostage by the destructive system of political appointments for decades. Instead of appointing capable, independent experts, crucial positions within ministries and state-owned enterprises are invariably distributed as political spoils.
Loyalty to the party outweighs competence or integrity. The result is a chronically paralyzed government apparatus where supervisory boards and management are constantly at each other’s throats, simply because personal and party political interests conflict.
Brunswijk’s misplaced victimhood misunderstands the essence of good governance. As was rightly pointed out in parliament: control is not hostility, but a dire necessity to safeguard the remaining integrity of state-owned enterprises.
As long as the Abop and its coalition partners refuse to break with the tradition of cronyism and accommodating incompetent party loyalists, Suriname will continue to pay the price. It is time for the political top to stop crying in the benches of parliament and start seeing the beams in their own eyes. And she comes to realize that the real crisis does not lie with alleged conspiracies, but with her own stubborn refusal to govern the country with capable people.
