The ambassador of Suriname in the Netherlands, Rajendre Khargi, was fired on Thursday by the Surinamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melvin Bouva. The former ambassador shared a letter on Friday NRC in which he refutes the accusations that are at the basis of the dismissal.
According to the Surinamese government, Khargi would have made several mistakes. The first is a meeting in which Surinamese Dutch were given the opportunity to think about the developments regarding gas extraction and environmental damage in Suriname. President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, who took office in July, did not know anything about the event, she told Surinamese press on Monday.
Patrick Brunings, oil, gas and the environment minister, was ‘honorary guest’, but afterwards turned out not to be present on behalf of the government. He was on vacation in the Netherlands and would have joined ‘personal title’. The authority of the government would have been undermined.
A second error, in the eyes of the Surinamese government, concerns photos on which Khargi issues awards. In the background of those images you can see that the state portrait of the previous president, Chan Santokhi, is hanging on the wall. Khargi is a confidant of Santokhi.
A “diplomatic blunder,” said Foreign Minister Bouva. He called Khargi to account on Tuesday and sent him the Laan, Writing on Thursday Surinamese media.
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Letter of resignation
In his resignation letter to Bouva, Khargi contradicts the accusations to his address on Friday. He writes about the wrong state portrait that the ministry should have given the embassy a state portrait of the new president. According to Khargi, that “never happened.”
That Khargi organized a meeting without submitting it to the government in Suriname fits in his own words within his “diplomatic responsibility.” He describes this as “connecting diaspora with the Surinamese government in the interest of our country.” “Involving the diaspora in policy issues is internationally recognized practice and part of the key responsibility of an ambassador.”
Although Khargi was already recalled by the foreign minister earlier this week and was released from his position, he writes the honor of keeping himself. He sees “no basis” anymore “for fruitful cooperation under your ministry” and immediately resigns.
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