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Vol. 31, Issue 47 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN November 20-26, 2020
EX-POLS
FACE
ARREST
Suriname detains former VP,
corruption charges expected
By Bert Wilkinson
It is as if Guyanese and Surinamese
officials are operating
from the same playbook.
Authorities in Dutch-speaking
Suriname this week wasted little
time in ordering the arrest
and detention of former Vice
President Ashwin Adhin on
corruption charges linked to
the alleged destruction of and
removal of state property in
the waning days of the National
Democratic Party (NDP) government.
The surprise move has
sparked outrage in the main
opposition party, which lost the
May 25 general elections to a
four-party coalition led by the
VHP Hindustani party of President
Chan Santokhi.
The ex VP is accused of
destroying electronic and other
property belonging to his ministry
in an apparent attempt to
deny the incoming government
access to and use of same. He
is to be arraigned sometime
this week even as his party
accused authorities of attempting
to destroy it and hamper its
rebuilding efforts. The NDP had
served two consecutive terms
but dropped from a majority
26 to 16 seats when the final
results were announced.
“We must all ensure that
the public prosecution service
is not abused. Apprehension of
critical opposition members in
such a questionable manner,
trampling on law and justice,
is a serious violation of democracy
and furthermore the right
of members of the national
assembly. Opposition members
and former office holders
are criminalized in advance by
the government and coalition
members,” an angry NDP said
in a statement.
Across the border Corentyne
River in Guyana, the governing
People’s Progressive Party
(PPP), which is known to have
very tight links with the coalition,
is involved in a spirited but
similar effort to throw former
members of the previous David
Granger administration in jail
for either corruption, abuse of
office or administrative overreach.
Like the NDP in Suriname,
the multiparty APNUAFC
coalition lost the March
2 general elections to the PPP
Haitian American Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus.
Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus
Mathylde Frontus victorious
By Nelson A. King
After two tense weeks following
the Nov. 3 general
elections, incumbent Haitian
American Assemblywoman
Mathylde Frontus on Wednesday
night was declared the
winner in the 46th Assembly
District in Brooklyn.
Preliminary results from
the New York State Board
of Elections (BOE) Election
night showed that Frontus,
the daughter of Haitian immigrants,
had lost to newcomer
Republican Mark Szuszkiewicz’
in the 46th Assembly
District.
But Frontus still held out
hope that she would eventually
be declared the winner in
the district that comprises the
Brooklyn neighborhoods of
Coney Island, Brighton Beach,
Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.
Wednesday night, she
exhaled and exclaimed.
“Friends, we did it!,” she
said. “Would not have made
it without the voters of the
46th District coming through.
Thank you for your support.
I’m eternally grateful.”
On Election Night, while
Szuszkiewicz received 2,882
more in-person votes than
Frontus, there were still thousands
of absentee ballots to be
counted.
The Brooklyn Democratic
Party also said more than
16,000 absentee ballots were
requested in the 46th Assembly
District and that Demo-
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