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Suriname

Country on the north coast of South America, bounded west by French Guiana, south by Brazil, east by Guyana, and north by the Atlantic Ocean.

Government

The 1987 constitution provides for a single-chamber, 51-member national assembly, elected by universal adult suffrage for a five-year term. The assembly elects the president, who is head of state, and a vice-president. The president must be elected by a two-thirds majority of the national assembly. If this is not achieved, a people's assembly of more than 800 members is formed from the national assembly and regional and municipal deputies, and the president is elected by a simple majority by this body. As head of government, the president appoints a cabinet of ministers and is advised by a 15-member state advisory council.

History

For early history, see South America. Founded as a colony by the English in 1650, Suriname became Dutch in 1667, under the Treaty of Breda, trading Manhattan (New York) for it. Except for two interregnums, 1795–1802 and 1814–16, Suriname remained a Dutch possession until 1975. The slave trade was abolished in 1814; however, large numbers of slaves were brought in illegally to work on the sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations. After the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies in 1863, India provided large numbers of migrant workers: 34,000 entered Suriname 1873–1916.

Independence

The Netherlands Constitution Act 1922 made Suriname an integrated territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Political tensions increased, culminating in a suspension of relations during World War II. In 1954, as Dutch Guiana, the country was made an equal member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with internal self-government. Full independence was achieved in 1975, with Dr Johan Ferrier as president and Henck Arron, leader of the Suriname National Party (NPS), as prime minister.

Military coup

In 1980 Arron's government was overthrown in an army coup, but President Ferrier refused to recognize the military regime and appointed Dr Henk Chin A Sen, of the Nationalist Republican Party, to head a civilian administration. Five months later the army staged another coup, and President Ferrier was replaced by Dr Chin A Sen. The new president announced details of a draft constitution that would reduce the army's role in government, whereupon the army, led by Lt Col Desi Bouterse, dismissed Dr Chin A Sen and set up the Revolutionary People's Front.

Instability

There followed months of confusion in which a state of siege and then martial law were imposed. From February 1980 to January 1983 there were six attempted coups by different army groups. Because of the chaos and killings of opposition leaders, Netherlands and US aid was stopped, and Bouterse turned to Libya and Cuba for assistance. The partnership between the army, the trade unions, and business, which had operated since 1981, broke up in 1985, and Bouterse turned to the traditional parties that had operated before the 1980 coup: the NPS, the left-wing Indian Progressive Reform Party (VHP), and the Indonesian Party for National Unity and Solidarity (KTPI). The ban on political activity was lifted, and leaders of the three main parties were invited to take seats on the Supreme Council, with Wym Udenhout as prime minister. In 1987 a new constitution was approved and elections in November were won by the three-party anti-Bouterse coalition, the Front for Democracy and Development (FDD). Ramsewak Shankar was elected president of the national assembly.

Shankar was removed as president in a December 1990 military coup, which Bouterse was believed to have been behind, although he denied any involvement. In January 1991, the assembly elected Johan Kraag of the NPS as caretaker president. In national elections in May 1991 the New Front (a broad alliance including the NPS, KTPI, VHP, and Surinamese Labour Party) won 30 seats in the 51-seat assembly, defeating Bouterse's National Democratic Party (NDP). Ronald Venetiaan, leader of the NPS, was elected president in September. In 1992 the government reached a peace agreement with the two largest guerrilla groups, the Surinamese Liberation Army and the Tucayana Amazonas to bring an end to a rebellion of the Maroons in the interior.

A general election held in May 1996 produced inconclusive results and President Venetiaan declined an offer from Bouterse to form a coalition and Jules Wijdenbosch, a former vice-president under Bouterse, became president, leading a six-party coalition which included the NDP. In August 2000, Venetiaan was elected president for a second time, following elections called early after strikes over the government's handling of the deteriorating economy. Venetiaan retained power after the May 2005 national assembly elections.

Suriname

District in northern Suriname; area 1,628 sq km/629 sq mi.