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 (Independent Electoral Commission) between 2004 and 2015 and once more from 2018 to 2020.

Career

Van-Dijk Silos was born on 13 December 1954 in Suriname. Van Dijk-Silos was chair of the (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. In August 2015 Van Dijk-Silos was appointed Minister of Justice and Police. She succeeded Edward Belfort. On 7 July 2016 the opposition parties

Democratic Alternative '91 The Democratic Alternative '91 (, DA'91) is a liberal political party in Suriname. History The DA '91 was founded in 1991 when it split off from the National Party of Suriname. The party was founded shortly before the 1991 general election. Th ...

and

Surinamese Labour Party The Surinamese Labour Party (, SPA) is a political party in Suriname. In the 2010 legislative elections, the party was part of the New Front for Democracy and Development that won 31.65% of the popular vote and 14 out of 51 seats in the Natio ...

, demanded the resignation of Van Dijk-Silos due to comments she had made about the trial over the

December murders The December murders (Dutch: ''Decembermoorden'') were the murders on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized the military dictatorship then ruling Suriname. Thirteen of these men were arrested on De ...

. The next day more parliamentarians joined the call. 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 Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

. In 2017 Van Dijk-Silos started consultations for the recognition of

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

rights. 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". Van Dijk-Silos refused to resign and she was subsequently relieved of her position with honor by Bouterse. On 23 March 2017 Van Dijk-Silos was succeeded by in an interim capacity. In November 2023 she repeated her views that her sacking was unjust. She also stated to have no more political ambitions. From 2018 Van Dijk-Silos once again served as chair of the Independent Electoral Commission. On 19 June 2020 she declared that the results of the

2020 Surinamese general election General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2020. The elections occurred concurrently with an economic crisis in Suriname, as well as the COVID-19 crisis. Electoral system The 51 seats in the National Assembly are elected using party-list ...

were valid, but at the same time stated that it were the worst organized elections in the last twenty years. On 26 September 2020 President

Chan Santokhi Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (; , ; born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president o ...

replaced her as chair with . In 2023 she launched an

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

against

Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname The chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname () is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the National Assembly (Suriname), National Assembly of Suriname. List of chairmen The following is a complete list of office-holders since inde ...

Marinus Bee Marinus Bee (born 1971) is a Surinamese politician, Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname, and sports manager. As sports manager, he was chairman of the Albina Sports Foundation for ten years, and since 2014 chairman of S.V. Papatam. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dijk-Silos, Jennifer van 1954 births Living people 20th-century Surinamese lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century Surinamese lawyers 21st-century Surinamese politicians 21st-century Surinamese women politicians 21st-century women lawyers Justice ministers of Suriname National Democratic Party (Suriname) politicians Women government ministers of Suriname