Suriname’s legislative body, De Nationale Assemblee (DNA), has scheduled a plenary sitting for Thursday to consider impeachment motions against three former cabinet members, bringing a long-running political accountability process to a critical voting stage.
Before the public portion of the sitting gets underway, lawmakers will first convene a closed internal administrative meeting. During this preliminary session, the special parliamentary committee tasked with questioning current and former elected officials will present its official investigative report on the impeachment case against the three ex-ministers.
Once the committee’s findings are delivered to the full assembly, legislators will first vote on procedural rules: specifically, whether the final vote on the impeachment motions will be conducted via written secret ballot or through a public show of hands. This procedural decision is widely viewed as consequential for the entire trajectory of the proceedings, as it may shape how lawmakers position themselves ahead of the final vote.
After settling the voting method, the assembly will move into public session to open debate on the impeachment motions against Gillmore Hoefdraad, the former Minister of Finance, Bronto Somohardjo, ex-Minister of Internal Affairs, and Riad Nurmohamed, former Minister of Public Works. The entire process is grounded in the investigative report compiled by the special committee led by sitting assembly member Rabin Parmessar, which carried out months of hearings and evidence gathering with support from other assembly legislators and independent legal experts.
Following the procedural vote, the full parliament will deliver its final ruling on the impeachment referral submitted by the Prosecutor General of Suriname, marking a key milestone in efforts to hold former high-level public officials accountable for alleged misconduct in office.