How the rising discontent in Suriname came to a shocking outburst

Torn wires dangle from a destroyed ATM next to the National Assembly building. Shards of glass from the smashed windows of the parliament building litter the street. Ahead, a completely burnt-out car with no tires. The devastation is a reminder of how on Friday a demonstration of more than a thousand disappointed Surinamese against price increases and the government’s economic policy got completely out of hand and resulted in violence, vandalism in parliament and looting.

The low point was the moment when a group of demonstrators penetrated the hall of the parliament building and destroyed windows. “On Friday she tried to set fire to it, and a large city fire started at the same building in colonial times. Was that there on purpose?” a guide who shows tourists around Independence Square wonders aloud.

Peace returned around the square on Sunday, but the center of the city is still closed with fences. On Saturday evening there were attempted arson attacks in several places in the city centre. Protest leader and activist Stephano ‘Pakittow’ Biervliet, initially without a trace, reported to the police and was imprisoned. He had written on Facebook shortly before that the protest was peaceful until someone fired shots, chaos ensued and he said he lost control of the demonstration.

Laughing with pain in the stomach

The shops had to remain closed on Sunday. Some markets were allowed to open, such as the Javanese market in the north of the city. Salesman Marthin Wirodikromo is standing with a few orange colored pumpkins in his hands. They are the last ones, the rest are sold out.

“People haven’t been able to do their shopping for days, I haven’t done such good business for a long time,” he says with a laugh. But he laughs with pain in his stomach, he says. “Never before have we seen this in Suriname, all that destruction and how the Assembly was invaded. They are vandals who belong under lock and key.”

He does understand the protests. “Prices in the shops are rising enormously. I sell vegetables at the market and I am also a truck driver, otherwise I won’t get out,” he says. Further down the market, Varosha Comvalius is bottle-feeding her one-year-old baby. She has to live on less than a hundred euros a month. “If I don’t get support from my family from the Netherlands, I won’t survive.”

At a gas station not far from the market, there is a queue of people with jerry cans. Gas stations were also looted in the riots and now most are closed. Gas station Go2 is open, but owner Remy Bailal took extra measures. “See those men down the road? Those are security guards,” he says. “The police are also nearby.” There is a fear that fuel prices, which are partly subsidized in Suriname, will rise. And that shortages are emerging now that people are hoarding. “I need gas or I won’t be able to go to work tomorrow,” says a man in line worriedly.

The damage around the parliament building will be repaired as much as possible. The budget is scheduled for Monday. It is not yet clear whether the shops will be open again on Sunday.

It has been restless in Suriname for some time, mainly due to the poor economic situation. Inflation last year was 54.6 percent, according to the central bank. The country received a loan from the IMF, but it must get its government finances in order and, among other things, cut the expanding civil service. That is difficult, as a result of which several tranches of the IMF have not been paid out.

Now a number of reforms have been rushed through. For example, VAT was introduced for the first time in January (not on basic necessities) and the subsidy on fuel is being phased out.

The anger over this comes on top of the frustration with the Santokhi government. The former police chief, who in 2020 took over in the middle of the corona pandemic in 2020 to lead a country that was financially ruined, had promised to tackle corruption. But friends and relatives of politicians have been appointed in important places.

All parties disapprove of violence

Behind the protests and dissatisfaction in Suriname there is no anti-democratic movement that disputes election results and undermines institutions. All political parties have denounced the violence. The rioters may have been inspired by the storming of the Capitol in the United States and similar riots in Brazil.

“It is vandalism that has gotten out of hand,” says Surinamese journalist Wilfred Leeuwin. “A social eruption, which has been fueled by both the current and the previous government.” He sees an agreement with the US and Brazil: society is increasingly polarized.

In a reaction on Friday evening, President Santokhi mainly emphasized the need to defend democracy and the rule of law. It bothers Leeuwin that the government pretends that the economic problems have nothing to do with the unrest. “You cannot squeeze a society like a tube of toothpaste.”

Santokhi, also a former minister of Justice, immediately set up a task force to track down the instigators of the riots, including by studying online videos. More than 80 arrests have already been made.

Read also:‘Suriname was the crime scene’, they know in Paramaribo

It is still uncertain whether the unrest will affect the government’s reform agenda and stability. The opposition to the cuts already partly comes from the coalition: the small National Party Suriname left the government last week. Santokhi also rules together with Ronnie Brunswijk’s party, which represents disadvantaged groups and opposes price increases and layoffs.

Santokhi will have to change his policy and not only have to promise everything, but also keep those promises, they say on the Javanese market. “How many times has Santokhi said that life is getting better for us,” sighs Varosha Comvalius. “But it is mainly the leaders who live in luxury, while we have to cut costs. Something has to change drastically, otherwise it will remain unsettled.”

Mmv Marloes de Koning