The war between the former allies, the Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij (ABOP) and Pertjajah Luhur (PL), is far from over and is mainly being waged via the media. The chairman of the ABOP Ronnie Brunswijk and the Somohardjos are resorting to airing each other’s dirty laundry in public. Last Wednesday Brunswijk who is currently also the vice president of Suriname revealed that Bronto Somohardjo was deported from the Netherlands and that he borrowed a huge sum of money from him. He made these revelations in response to the insults that were made by Bronto at a rally of the PL last weekend.
The other high ranking officials of both the ABOP as well as the PL have not urged their chairmen to behave themselves. People always get the impression that Brunswijk is the only one who gets to have a say within the ABOP while only two people have a say within the PL namely Paul Somohardjo and his son, Bronto Somohardjo. The other executives of these political parties choose to remain silent.
“He wants to fight dirty but I can also fight dirty,” Brunswijk told the reporters before the start of the weekly session of the Council of Ministers last Wednesday. Brunswijk announced that Bronto would receive a formal letter with one demand. Bronto must pay the money that he borrowed from Brunswijk back. Last weekend Bronto claimed that Brunswijk was exaggerating his wealth and possessions. “He borrows money from me,” said Brunswijk who added that Bronto had agreed to pay him back after the elections of May 2020. Brunswijk has demanded his money back before the elections of May 2025.
He made it clear that the father of Bronto, Paul Somohardjo, is no better. Brunswijk described the chairman of the PL as a person who can’t be trusted and who makes misleading statements. It was said that Brunswijk had demanded that the PL had to be ‘absorbed’ by the ABOP. “That is not true,” said Brunswijk who added that they had agreed to let both parties form a new party. Everything was going smoothly but at the very last minute Somohardjo pulled out of the agreement. Brunswijk is puzzled by the story that the Somohardjos are telling the nation. “These people are dangerous. One must not change the facts.”