DE SNIJD / Armand Snijders
The purple walls on HD Benjaminstraat, which functioned for decades as the impenetrable Ocer fortress of the National Democratic Party (NDP), show deep, gaping cracks. And no, that is not due to overdue maintenance of the building, but because the ghosts of the past refuse to sleep peacefully and because the living fossils do not disappear from the scene.
Around the birthday of the deceased NDP party god Desi, a political mummy has awakened from a deep hibernation: Uncle Ramon has sharpened his dull knives and is going to war. And how! In an interview with LIM FM he pulled off old-fashioned leather. The man who was Bouta’s logistical and strategic mastermind for years – and who you had to pass before you came anywhere near Desi – now feels left out, ignored and irrelevant.
“A political mummy has awakened from a deep hibernation: Uncle Ramon has sharpened his dull knives and is going to war“
Where is the purple shoe pinching? First of all, loyalty. Or rather, the apparent complete lack thereof. Uncle Ramon delicately reminded listeners that three convicted comrades – Gefferie, Dendoe and Brondenstein – are still languishing in the cells of Santo Boma. They were convicted by independent judges for the December murders of 1982 and accepted that punishment, unlike Desi who went into hiding. Men who, according to Uncle Ramon, were promised mountains of gold and immediate freedom before the elections if the NDP would seize power.
Now that the purple flag is flying again at the presidential palace, it remains eerily quiet from Ocer around these hidden revolutionaries. Even a request for medical discharge was rejected without the party leadership lifting a finger. Uncle Ramon faithfully travels to the prison every month to fulfill his promise to Desi, but is horrified to see that the rest of the party would prefer to see the memory of the December murders legacy leave with the north sun.
And then there is the internal housekeeping. According to him, the transfer of leadership has been a mess and the much-needed internal elections are being anxiously postponed. The frustration runs deep: He said that since Aunt Jenny took office, he hasn’t even had a chance to speak to her in private. “People are not working with me at the moment,” lamented the monument of old.
Aunt Jenny responded with her typical, icy stoic calm. When asked about her vice-chairman’s bitter remarks, she kept it wonderfully short: “May”. Look, that’s a telling answer that Uncle Ramon can put in his pocket. She doesn’t air her dirty laundry, she claims. She can miss his moaning like a toothache. After all, she has a country to lead.
She also wants to be reminded as little as possible of Desi’s reign. As much as she respects the man, she also knows full well that a large part of the misery she now has to deal with is due to his policies. Even though she constantly claims otherwise out of a kind of politeness.
But her icy calm cannot conceal the fact that behind the NDP scenes there is a fierce palace power struggle going on between the ‘old purple guard’ and the current leaders who call the shots. To complete the chaos, Uncle Ramon threw in a political grenade by casually admitting that he secretly met Desi several times during his time on the run.
Everyone already suspected that, but now that he so openly admits it, it should be reason for the Public Prosecution Service (OM) to at least call him to account. He has committed criminal offenses by aiding a fugitive and probably supplying him with packets of Morello and bottles of Blue Label… and basic necessities.
But the real bouncer? According to Uncle Ramon, President Chan knew exactly where Desi was at the time and even spoke to him. A claim that, if true, reduces the Surinamese political theater of recent years to a hypocritical puppet show of the highest order.
To be honest, it wouldn’t really surprise anyone, more criminals slipped through the cracks of the legal net in Chan’s time. But because Chan has also gone before us, we will never know the real truth. It was cremated with him.
I am very curious whether someone from the Public Prosecution Service will take the initiative to grill Uncle Ramon. That would also be nice for Aunt Jenny, because then it might creak, squeak and grind a little in the future. Because even though his voice and fragile body and limbs are visibly weakened, as one of the last standing revolutionaries, he does have some followers. And Aunt Jenny will also have to take that into account to maintain her position. After all, if the old revolutionary structures finally turn their backs on the party, the purple foundation will crumble faster than it would like.
The NDP is at a crossroads. Desi’s legacy should not be ignored. Aunt Jenny will definitely have to pay attention to that too. In any case, as long as she does not give in to Uncle Ramon’s demand to place Desi statues on Independence Square and/or Revolution Square. That would be a huge kick in the shins of the relatives of his victims and of a large part of the population. Now there is only a stretch of highway – built and financed by the Chinese in the middle of nowhere named after him and according to many, that is too much of a good thing.
In any case: for the neutral spectator the spectacle in Ocer is still in full swing, but the outcome cannot yet be predicted. Undoubtedly some jokers will be conjured up. So take a seat in the front row and hold the djogo and popcorn ready.
