The government must undo the hike of the deposit rate that political parties must pay to participate in the elections of 2025,” said the chairpersons of DA’91, De Nieuwe Leeuw and De Nieuwe Wind. “If the government is capable of discussing and passing bills in parliament within 24 hours it must also be capable of undoing or adjusting the hike of the deposit rate within a week,” said Angelic Del Castillo, the chairperson of DA’91, after the Constitutional Court had announced its ruling last Friday. The Constitutional Court which took a good look at the inflation numbers of the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) ruled that the one thousand percent hike of the deposit that political parties must pay is in violation of several laws in Suriname’s constitution and that it is also in violation of several international treaties. It also took a look at the lists of voters at the Central Bureau of Civic Affairs (CBB) in order to estimate a reasonable deposit rate. This information was crucial to determine the impact of the hike of the deposit rate on the various political parties,” said the Constitional Court. The Constitutional Court made it clear that this disproportionate hike was discriminatory as it prevented small political parties from participating in the general elections…[+]