Suriname
Country on the N coast of South America, bounded W by French Guiana,
S by Brazil, E by Guyana, and N 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, who is prime minister and head of government. Both serve
five-year terms.
History
Founded as a colony by the English 1650, Suriname became Dutch 1667.
Except for two interregnums, 1795- 1802 and 1814-16, Suriname remained
a Dutch possession until 1975. The slave trade was abolished 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 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 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.
There followed months of confusion in which a state of siege and then
martial law were imposed. From Feb 1980 to Jan 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 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 Front
for Democracy and Development (FDD). Ramsewak Shankar was elected president
of the national assembly. A bloody coup by the army Dec 1990 removed
President Shankar; Bouterse denied any involvement.
In Jan 1991 the assembly elected Johan Kraag as caretaker president.
In national elections May 1991 the New Front (an FDO-NPS-VHP-KTPI
alliance) won 29 seats in the 51-seat assembly. Ronald Venetiaan
was elected president in Sept. In 1992 the government reached
a peace agreement with the two largest guerrilla groups, the Surinamese
Liberation Army and the Tucayana Amazonas. A general election
held May 1996 produced inconclusive results and President Venetiaan
declined an offer from Bouterse to form a coalition.
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