Suriname- Religious organizations say they have information regarding a plot to overthrow the government.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – Several religious organizations, including the Inter-Religious Council in Suriname (IRIS), are calling on the population to remain calm amid reports of a plot to overthrow the government of President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi.

“In this way, we contribute to maintaining order and peace in the country,” said the IRIS and the Christian Churches Committee (CCK) in a joint statement.

CCK chairman Bishop Karel Choennie and the IRIS’s Robbert Bipat said they have reliable information that certain groups want to unleash unrest in the Duch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country with a view to overthrowing the Santokhi government.

Reports here are linking the possible insurrection to efforts aimed at preventing the state from carrying out the ruling of the Court of Justice last December that sentenced former president Desi Bouterse and five others to lengthy prison terms for their involvement in the December 8, 1982, murders of the 15 men that included journalists, military officers, union leaders, lawyers, businessmen, and university lecturers.

The whereabouts of Bouterse, 78, remains a mystery after he failed to keep his scheduled appointment to report to the prison in Santo Boma just south of the capital, Paramaribo. Another convicted man, Iwan Dijksteel, 68, failed to report to prison.

Police in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country have since launched a search for both Bouterse and Dijksteel, even as the main opposition National Democratic Party (NDP), which the former president heads, maintains that the trial was political and directed by The Netherlands.

President Santokhi has told a Suriname-based online publication, Starnieuws, that the information provided by the CCK and the IRIS in a letter to him is being taken seriously.

Santokhi said that he would seek further information from the organizations, calling on them to adhere to the constitution’s requirement that members of the Assembly be elected every five years.

“I have already requested information from the Intelligence and Security Services,” Santokhi said, adding that the information will be further discussed with the Ministers of Justice & Police, Defense and Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation. He said the matter will also be brought to the attention of the National Security Committee.

“We will act based on the result and advice. The government will do everything it can to maintain order and peace and guarantee safety for society,” Santokhi added.

In their statement, the religious leaders said that the Suriname Constitution stipulates that a new parliament is elected every five years, based on which the vice-president and president are also elected.

They say no one in Suriname is above the law and that any final judgment of the Court of Justice must be implemented.

Anyone convicted in the December murder trial must accept this “because we wish to live in a democratic constitutional state,” they added.

Meanwhile, the NDP has issued a statement expressing “great surprise” at the statement issued by the religious organizations.

The party said that amid the commotion surrounding various disturbing developments, CCK and IRIS are confronting the community with “a politically charged message from these religious organizations in particular.”

General elections were held here on May 25, 2020, and voters in this country go to the polls to elect a new government next year, with the NDP questioning why efforts should be made now to overthrow the current administration.

“The organizations should have at least reported the points of concern raised and the so-called origin of the insinuated matters to the judiciary. However, they choose to unnecessarily agitate the community, while the community longs for relief because the daily living costs can hardly be met,” the NDP said.

It added that without any known reason, the CCK and the IRIS have chosen to address insinuations about unrest publicly.

“It is regrettable that religious organizations now also rely on rumors and thus contribute to possible social unrest. The NDP raises the question of whether certain board members of religious organizations now more emphatically pursue a political agenda.”

The NDP calls on the CCK and the IRIS, “together with their affiliated church communities,” to pray for Suriname and the population against the injustice forced on them over the past three years.

The opposition party said that Surinamese will be liberated from this plight on May 25, 2025, at the elections. It calls on its members and sympathizers to carry out the party field work in unity and “not to be distracted by anything or anyone.”