Party members escort Bouterse's hearse to mortuary

paramaribo - The hearse carrying the body of Desi Bouterse departed from his residence to the mortuary amid remarks from party officials.

The hearse carrying the body of Desi Bouterse departed from his residence to the mortuary on Wednesday morning local time.

"It's a great loss for the country and the party, but luckily we can still carry and preserve the ideals," said Ramon Abrahams, a vice-chairman of Bouterse's National Democratic Party. He believes that the party will continue the work of their honorary chairman Bouterse. "He was absent for a year, but we still carried on, didn't we?"

According to former Vice President Ashwin Adhin, a part of the Surinamese identity is lost with Bouterse's death. "Suriname will never be the same," stated Adhin, who served as vice president from 2015 to 2020 under Bouterse. Laurens Neede, one of the sergeants who staged a coup under Bouterse's leadership in 1980, believes his comrade "departed spiritually" and ended his life in that way.