Bronto Somohardjo recently made it clear that the poll that was conducted by Jair Schalkwijk and Ajay Gopalray and which indicates that the Pertjajah Luhur (PL) ...
would only get one parliamentary seat makes him laugh out loud. “How do you explain that a party with thousands of seats only gets one seat?”
Bronto who is a deputy chairman and who is also on top of the list of candidates of the PL party told Times of Suriname that he challenges the researchers to a public debate regarding the objectivity of the poll. “According to the poll we would barely get one seat but if you look at where the research was carried out you would get the impression that other parts of Suriname do not exist. Are the residents of Lelydorp, Houttuin, Blauwgrond, Meerzorg, Tamanredjo, Koewarasan, Weg naar Zee, the eastern and western polders, Nieuw Nickerie, Domburg and Rainville not citizens of Suriname? Are they not being included?”
Bronto Somohardjo pointed out that the researcher's claimed that the research was carried out in nine of the ten district's and that 1,800 people took the poll. But he also pointed out that big areas where the PL has many supporters were not included.
“Every serious researcher knows that if you exclude entire communities, you will get a different picture. Did they deliberately make a mistake? How accurate is their poll?” The deputy chairman of the PL reminded the two researchers of the fact that the Surinamese history is filled with polls that were wrong. He made it clear that polls are in fact snapshots and that elections are won thanks to rallying and the power of persuasion.
“Ten seats in the poll go to the doubters and swing voters. How many of them would have voted for the PL? How do the researchers explain the huge turnout at the events of the PL? How do they explain the fact that PL flags have been placed at each house in entire areas? I challenge the researchers to come and explain how their poll was conducted. They should show us how they got these numbers and why entire communities were excluded. Polls are important but the outcome of elections is determined by the people and not by two researchers. I will leave it up to them to determine the time and the place for the debate as long as it is broadcast live,” said Somohardjo.
