The verdict in the December 8th trial seems to have had a significant impact on the National Democratic Party (NDP). The party is currently at an all-time low, and it is likely that former president and party leader Desi Bouterse will have to go to prison. Political analyst Ashwin Ramcharan expects that President Chan Santokhi will not grant the pardon request in time because he realizes that the NDP is wounded and ripe to be wiped off the political stage once and for all.

Ramcharan fears that granting the pardon request would mean that murderers and criminals in the future can all request clemency. He is convinced that Bouterse will end up behind bars if there is no playing games with the Surinamese people while the international community is watching, and that the NDP will be in big trouble if the whole pardon circus comes to a halt soon. He believes that the party no longer has any right to exist due to the enormous mistakes made in governance over the past decades.

Ramcharan and VHP leader Robert Vishnudatt expressed their opinions on D-TV Express in response to the verdict and the pardon request.

Vishnudatt does not see the pardon request as a concession to political opponents but as a legal possibility provided by the constitution. He notes that submitting the pardon request could mean a delay for Bouterse. Why would Bouterse flee if he could get a delay? Vishnudatt wonders.

Ramcharan points out that NDP members should not be naive and should realize that the revolution has brought little good to the country. It has not quite been genocide, but rather an economic and mental torture that Suriname and its people have had to endure and still endure daily. The NDP has completely destroyed the country, its people, and itself.

The atmosphere of dedeh-hoso, the mourning display, in the NDP party building, Ocer, speaks volumes. The fact that NDP members and supporters thought Bouterse would be acquitted shows how corrupt the thinking and actions of the NDP are. This is worse than autistic self-absorption and arrogant self-overestimation. They are not at all aware of how the main puppeteers, since the party’s inception, have transformed the country from a military state to a narco-state and then into a completely bankrupt state.

Vishnudatt assumes that if Bouterse is granted clemency, the other convicts will also receive clemency. Ultimately, President Santokhi will have the final say after receiving advice from the Court of Justice, according to the analyst. He calls on the president to be well-informed by experts involved in this process. Vishnudatt notes that if clemency is granted, there will be no problem. However, if there is no clemency, he believes that society will remain in a state of tension. He fears that antipathy will arise against the current authorities and that Bouterse’s supporters will resist. He is convinced that politically speaking, Bouterse’s career is over due to this verdict.

Ramcharan advocates for dialogue and a vision for the future of Suriname, now that the court has made its decision. However, he also says that the dialogue should not revolve around Bouterse as a person, but rather around the national interests of Suriname. And that can only happen if the NDP asks the Surinamese people for public apologies for all the mismanagement. After all, it has never happened before that a Minister of Finance has left the country without a trace. And this was a Minister of Finance who ate, drank, and conspired with Bouterse and the NDP leadership. He believes that the NDP should reflect, even though the party will never come to power again due to the malicious acts that Suriname and its people have and will still have to deal with traumatically in the past and in the future.

According to Vishnudatt, the government will take potential developments into account. He points out that the judge could have sentenced Bouterse to life in prison, but took his age into consideration and imposed a “mere” 20-year term. The analyst believes it is important for the political sphere to also take these factors into account. He does not advocate for exoneration, but rather for peace in society after a genuine expression of remorse. Vishnudatt calls for a period of reconciliation for all parties involved.