The Vice President’s Rusland Salary Dilemma: A Ritual of Numbers and Illusions
- Johny Griffith
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Vice President Gregory Rusland, currently also acting as Suriname’s president, has declared he has “no problem” with earning less if parliament rolls back the controversial salary increases for government officials, members of the National Assembly (DNA), and the judiciary. His words sound calm, almost detached, but beneath them lies a storm of contradictions.
Under the new law on financial provisions, Rusland’s monthly base salary is 97,500 SRD, supplemented by:
40% representation allowance (≈39,000 SRD)
10% phone allowance if no state-provided device is issued
35% management allowance (≈34,125 SRD)
Together, this totals nearly 170,000 SRD per month—a figure that dwarfs the earnings of teachers, nurses, and civil servants who keep the country’s fragile social fabric intact.
Rusland recalls that in the previous parliamentary term, he earned around 30,000 SRD as a legislator, but could still pursue consultancy work. When DNA banned side jobs, salaries were raised “as compensation.” He insists that decisions must be viewed “in context,” yet admits that the process was rushed, poorly examined, and ultimately unjust.
The Vice President himself was shocked to see the judiciary’s salaries surpassing even the president’s. “No one should earn more than the head of state,” he remarked, calling the imbalance unacceptable. He acknowledged that while leaders at the top were rewarded, the broader society—teachers, nurses, ordinary workers—was ignored. The result: a grotesque distortion of income distribution, a widening gulf between elite privilege and public struggle.
Questions:
What kind of leader smiles while pocketing 170,000 SRD, knowing the nurse who saves lives earns scraps?
What kind of system rewards silence and loyalty with gold, while punishing honesty and service with poverty?
And what kind of society tolerates this imbalance, nodding along as if betrayal were just another line item in the budget?
Opinion:
But of course, this is Suriname—where corruption isn’t a scandal, it’s tradition. Salaries aren’t compensation, they’re trophies. Teachers and nurses? They’re not underpaid, they’re simply auditioning for sainthood. And the politicians? They’re just humble servants of the people… servants who somehow always eat first, drink deepest, and leave the crumbs for everyone else. Download for free!!!
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