put a severe damper on mass rallies, but activists
from nearly all 17 parties vying for 383,000
eligible voters at 638 polling stations, have
taken to flag waving motorcades, radio and talk
shows and live social media debate programs as
replacement for the crush from rallies and platform
speakers.
The NDP which had over the decades attracted
thousands of young voters from the middle
class National Party of Suriname (NPS), one of
the oldest in the Dutch-speaking republic, could
see some those who are disgruntled with rising
food and other prices, the theft of the money
from the central bank and a host of other ills,
heading back to the NPS. The prediction from
newspaper columnists is that the NDP could
end up with about 18 seats this time, meaning
it would have to form alliances with several
other parties to win a parliamentary majority
and to begin the process of electing a president.
Several of those with a few seats in the outgoing
assembly have already vowed not to hook up in
any coalition with the NDP as they are anxious
to break the back of the country’s most powerful
political outfit in recent memory.
The main opposition Hindustani VHP party
which had traditionally made no qualms of
being an outfit for Indo Surinamese, has made
an effort in recent months to open up to other
Caribbean L 12 ife, May 22-28, 2020
races and could add a few seats to the nine it
won in 2015. It is the NDP’s strongest rival and
its leadership is banking on adding a few more
seats to its 2015 tally. Point to note is that it has
not ruled out or spoken too much against an
alliance with the NDP as its Indo business interests
have complained about the party being out
of power and influence for far too long.
The other major party of significance in this
race in ABOP of former Bouterse rival and guerilla
leader Ronnie Brunswijk. With a strong
base among Maroons in the southeast near
French Guiana, ABOP has boasted of a growth
in its ranks that could see it adding two to three
more seats. If this is the case, it will be a major
force to reckon with when negotiations for anti
NDP coalitions begin. ABOP had been a partner
with the NDP in its first term but eventually left,
complaining about domination.
Continued from Page 1
sent Haiti’s black citizens and
the red the gens de couleur,”
it added. “The story is widely
known in Haiti: the anniversary
of the date is celebrated as the
Flag and Universities Day, and
images of Catherine Flon have
appeared on Haitian currency
and stamps.”
Following his proclamation
as Emperor, Dessalines promulgated
a new constitution on
May 20, 1805, according to
Wikipedia.
In it, it said, the colors of
the flag were altered to black
and red.
“This flag being subsequently
adopted by Henri Christophe,
the republicans under
Alexandre Pétion returned to
the colors blue and red, subsequently
turning them horizontal
and adding the newly
adopted Haitian coat of arms,”
Wikipedia said.
During the period of the Haitian
Empire of Faustin I, it said
his coat of arms was used on
the flag and for official functions,
but it was subsequently
abandoned upon his removal
from office.
Between 1964 and 1986,
Wikipedia said the family dictatorships
of François “Papa Doc”
and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”
Duvalier returned to Dessalines’
black and red design. It said
they included the national coat
of arms, but altered the flags in
its trophy to black as well.
Because the coat of arms is
only used for national and military
flags, whereas the civil flag
consists solely of the two unaugmented
horizontal bands,
it was discovered at the 1936
Summer Olympics in Berlin
that Haiti and Liechtenstein
were using the same flag, Wikipedia
said.
“This led to the addition of a
crown to the design of the flag
of Liechtenstein,” it said.
Bichotte is currently
the Chair of the Assembly’s
Subcommittee on Oversight of
Minority and Women-Owned
Business Enterprises (MWBEs),
and serves on the following
committees: Housing, Government
Operations, Education,
Banks, Health, and Higher
Education.
She is also a member of
the Task Force on Women’s
Issues and sits on Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s Domestic Violence
Advisory Council and Mayor Bill
De Blasio’s MWBE Task Force.
Continued from Page 1
President of Suriname, Desi Bouterse at a
press conference in Suriname. Associated
Press / Edward Troon
Caribbean voters
prepare for
general elections
Haitains celebrate Flag Day