Wednesday, April 19, 2006

by Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Pertjajah Luhur, a key coalition party in Suriname, has decided to boycott all cabinet meetings and sessions of parliament over a dispute regarding the appointment of a top official at the Ministry of Education.

During a radio interview, President Ronald Venetiaan harshly criticized the party’s attempt to replace the sub-director of Education with the party’s vice-chairman Ronny Tamsiran, a member of parliament.

Although the ministry staff opposes the decision, the Minister of Education Edwin Wolf (Pertjajah Luhur) defended his intention to remove the sub-director by describing the move as a political decision of his party leaders.

The president’s comments on the political inexperience of the minister during his interview motivated Pertjajah Luhur to call an emergency meeting focused on the issue.

Following the meeting, Pertjajah Luhur released a statement announcing that members of parliament and the party’s cabinet ministers will boycott meetings until coalition leaders resolve the matter.

“The party leadership is very annoyed over remarks President Venetiaan made in an interview on a local radio station. These statements are of a derogatory nature and taken as extremely insulting. Due to the good understanding within the coalition, statements of this nature are unacceptable.” Party leader Paul Somohardjo read this public statement after the emergency meeting.

Meanwhile, President Venetiaan received a letter from the coalition party advising him to convene a meeting to discuss the dispute as soon as possible.

Pertjajah Luhur officials deny that the party’s actions are a form of blackmail against the government.

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