Jennifer van Dijk-Silos

Jennifer van Dijk-Silos
Van Dijk-Silos, 2013
Minister of Justice and Police
In office
12 August 2015 – 23 March 2017
PresidentDési Bouterse
Preceded byEdward Belfort [nl]
Succeeded byFerdinand Welzijn [nl] (interim)
Personal details
Born (1954-12-13) 13 December 1954 (age 69)
Suriname
Political partyNational Democratic Party

Jennifer Victorine van Dijk-Silos (born 13 December 1954) is a Surinamese politician of the National Democratic Party. She was Minister of Justice and Police between August 2015 and March 2017. Van Dijk-Silos served as chair of the Onafhankelijk Kiesbureau [nl] (Independent Electoral Commission) between 2004 and 2015 and once more from 2018 to 2020.

Career

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Van-Dijk Silos was born on 13 December 1954 in Suriname.[1] Van Dijk-Silos was chair of the Onafhankelijk Kiesbureau [nl] (Independent Electoral Commission) between 2004 and 2015 before she was appointed minister. She also had her own law firm, which she transferred to her daughter.[2][3] In August 2015 Van Dijk-Silos was appointed Minister of Justice and Police.[2] She succeeded Edward Belfort [nl].[4]

On 7 July 2016 the opposition parties Democratic Alternative '91 and Surinamese Labour Party, demanded the resignation of Van Dijk-Silos due to comments she had made about the trial over the December murders.[5] The next day more parliamentarians joined the call.[6] Van Dijk-Silos reacted by first saying she had no message to the calls for her resignation and subsequently that the opposition parliamentarians had lied in their letter to President Dési Bouterse.[7][8] In 2017 Van Dijk-Silos started consultations for the recognition of LGBTQ rights.[9]

On 21 March 2017 Van Dijk-Silos was asked to resign by President Dési Bouterse, he cited her troublesome relations with the judicial power as reason. Judges of the High Court of Justice of Suriname earlier withdrew support for her in a letter, stating that she was "impossible to communicate and cooperate with".[10] Van Dijk-Silos refused to resign and she was subsequently relieved of her position with honor by Bouterse.[11] On 23 March 2017 Van Dijk-Silos was succeeded by Ferdinand Welzijn [nl] in an interim capacity.[12] In November 2023 she repeated her views that her sacking was unjust. She also stated to have no more political ambitions.[13]

From 2018 Van Dijk-Silos once again served as chair of the Independent Electoral Commission.[3] On 19 June 2020 she declared that the results of the 2020 Surinamese general election were valid, but at the same time stated that it were the worst organized elections in the last twenty years.[14] On 26 September 2020 President Chan Santokhi replaced her as chair with Samseerali Sheikh-Alibaks [nl].[3]

In 2023 she launched an injunction against Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname, Marinus Bee, to speed up the process of the amendments to the electoral arrangements. Bee replied that van Dijk-Silos handled out of revenge for the National Assembly not having supported her model.[15]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer van Dijk-Silos.
  1. ^ "Over ons". Advocatenkantoor Van Dijk-Silos. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Van Dijk-Silos nieuwe minister van Justitie en Politie". Starnieuws. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Mushtaq, Asad (27 September 2020). "Saamseerali Sheikh-Alibaks neemt roer over Jennifer van Dijk-Silos" (in Dutch). Dagblad Suriname. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Belfort draagt over aan Van dijk-Silos". LPM News. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Aftreden Suriname's minister van Justitie geëist". Waterkant. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Ook oppositionele fracties eisen ontslag Jennifer Van Dijk- Silos". Dnieuws. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  7. ^ Jerrel Harderwijk (7 July 2016). "Van Dijk-Silos: "Ik heb geen boodschap aan weg met Silos"". Suriname Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Minister Van Dijk-Silos: Gore leugen in brief oppositie". Starnieuws. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Actuele situatie wetgeving LGBTQ-gemeenschap besproken". De Ware Tijd (in Dutch). 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Bouterse ontslaat minister van Justitie en Politie" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Laatste officiële publieke handeling Van Dijk – Silos" (in Dutch). Waterkant. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Van Dijk-Silos draagt over aan Welzijn" (in Dutch). GFC Nieuws. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Jennifer van Dijk-Silos: "Ik ben genezen van de politiek"". waterkant.net (in Dutch). 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Uitslag parlementsverkiezingen Suriname bindend verklaard". Trouw (in Dutch). 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020.
  15. ^ Harderwijk, Jerrel (16 July 2023). "Van Dijk-Silos: Bee reageert vanuit zijn eigen inborst". Suriname Herald (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 16 July 2023.
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