(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Although no one says it outright, talks with Parliamentarians from both opposition and coalition show that they consider the demands such as ‘the right to self-determination’ made by the Indigenous and Marrons at last weekend’s land rights conference to be unrealistic. They speak of an excessive demand and say the issue should be discussed broadly with the community. The President’s decision to refer the matter to Parliament is not supported by all Parliamentarians, however. “The President should take his responsibility. In his election program, he promised to deal with the land rights issue ‘shoulder to shoulder’. And now he should not backpedal at the first setback and act like Parliament is a kind of debate club,” says Guno Castelen (NF/SPA). Castelen is not pleased with the President’s inention to refer the matter to Parliament. “The government should present a well-crafted proposal and not do shoddy work and let us fix it afterward. Only a fully finished proposal can be debated by Parliament.” Ronny Asabina (BEP) also believes that the President should have started talks about the statement read at the land rights conference instead of closing the entire conference.
