US State Department Self Study Book about Suriname
(1975-1992)
The Challenge of Independence
On November 25, 1975, Suriname became independent from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A bilateral treaty fund was set up by the Netherlands and Suriname as an aid-program totaling 3.2 billion Dutch Guilders (approximately 1 billion U.S. Dollars) to be spent over a period of ten years. Suriname became a parliamentary democracy with a clear division of powers: the legislative, executive and judicial branch. The President of the Republic was elected by the Parliament, which had 39 members. The executive powers, however, were in the hands of the Council of Ministers, which was headed by the Vice-President. The Ministers were accountable to the Parliament for their political actions.
However, the new Constitution for the new Republic was a flawed document. Foremost, it contained no provisions to bridge the gap between the coastal area dominated by the merchant-city of Paramaribo and the hinterland, an omission which would be exploited a mere 11 years later with the outbreak of the internal conflict. Specifically, the new Constitution left the interior insufficiently represented by minority candidates as there was no residence requirement to ensure that members of the then Parliament had close ties with and strong relationships to the people and the region they represented. Also, representation was only at the national level, a highly centralized membership in the Parliament, with no means for local and regional participation, representation, and mobilization. It was only after the period of military rule, in the Constitution of 1987, that such bodies as the local council (ressort comite) and district council (distrikt comite) would be designed and implemented.
The First Five Years (1975-1980)
The first post-independence period (1975-1980) started with optimism. A steady foreign currency income from the bauxite sector could be counted on, and development aid flowed into the State coffers at a rate above the absorption capacity of Suriname’s institutions.
The economic future of Suriname was to be assured by investing large sums into the West-Suriname project. Two interconnected hydro-electric dams and a river-diversion project would generate a total of 800 MW and this energy was to be used to fuel a new alumina and aluminum plant in the region, and also for other economic activities such as lumber, pulp and paper mills, gold, rubber and agriculture. In 1975 the construction of a 60-kilometer railroad got underway connecting the future bauxite mines in the Bakhuys Mountains to Apoera, an Amerindian village along the Corantijn river, some 150 kilometers inland from the coast. One outcome of the project would be the growth of a new residential area in Apoera, with modern houses and services.
As the seventies wore on, optimism gave way to pessimism. Persons began to doubt that the million-dollar investment in West Suriname would come to fruition. Too many questions remained unanswered and the Government did not seem to be in a hurry to administratively justify the ongoing million dollar spending sprees. Arron and his coalition partners were re-elected with a narrow margin in 1977, bringing the NPK II coalition to power, and the Government seemed as reassured as ever. And yet, the ever-widening gap between the promises made at independence and their realization led to skepticism and dissatisfaction. Few new jobs were created and the gap between the rich and the poor increased. It was a labor conflict in the military, however, which ended the term of NPK II just prior to the scheduled elections. The non-commissioned officers in the armed forces tried to establish a union, an effort that was not supported by the government. The central issue concerned salary increases.
Military Rule: 1980-1987
On February 25, 1980, the military took over the country. Between 1980 and 1987 four phases of rule can be recognized. Throughout this entire period, however, the ultimate authority resided with the military leaders. During the first phase (1980-1982), a military council was supported by civilians who assisted a titre personnelle. During the second phase (1983), the military leaders were supported by proponents of the small socialist parties (the RVP and the PALU). The third phase (1984-1985) saw unions and business associations join forces with the military leaders. During the final phase (1986-1987) the unions, business associations and the old political parties joined the military in the transition to democracy.
At the time of the take-over the population took a wait-and-see attitude. Within a week the President and the Military Council issued a press release saying that in undertaking actions the new rulers would try to adhere to the Constitution as much as possible. But as time wore on, things turned out differently. By the end of March of 1982 four countercoup attempts had been thwarted and the military leaders began to worry about personal and state security. By mid-1982 the movement to restore democracy became increasingly vocal: church organizations, labor unions, students and teachers began to demand a timetable for the return to an elected government. In December of 1982 the military cracked down and executed fifteen leading opponents of the military regime. The group of victims included the President of the Bar Association, the Dean of the Social Science Faculty, a labor union leader, and several journalists.
When the military took over in 1980 they inherited a considerable foreign currency reserve, partially due to the influx of development aid in hard currency. In 1983, however, the economy suffered several setbacks. Development aid was suspended due to the events of December 8, 1982. A worldwide recession reduced the demand for aluminum and alumina, Suriname’s most important export commodities. Moreover, monetary financing of the government deficit increased the money supply and fueled inflation. In the period 1981 to 1985 monetary reserves declined from about US $225 million to US $25 million and the value of the Suriname florin began to slide, a trend which would alternately accelerate and slow down, but continue to this day. The Central Bank, however, continued to maintain the official rate of Sf 1.77 to the US Dollar, resulting in an ever-increasing gap between the official and the parallel rate. Gradually, several “official” exchange rates were introduced, making it very difficult to bring the monetary situation under control.
The military-dominated governments of the period initiated measures to mobilize support outside of the traditional political party structures. A mass movement, which was to presage the emergence of the military’s own political party – the NDP—and called variously the Stand Fast (Standvaste) or the 25 February Movement (25 Februari Beweking) mobilized supporters through previously untried means. Also, the forerunner of local and district level committees was designed, the People’s Committee’s (Volks Comite), which sought local in-put through institutionalized organs aimed at decentralizing communication, participation and decision-making.
In September of 1987 a new Constitution was approved by a referendum and in November of 1987 elections were held. The old political parties, now in the multi-ethnic FRONT coalition, received an overwhelming majority (40) of the 51 seats in parliament. Under the new Constitution the president and the vice-president are to be elected by the National Assembly by a 2/3’s majority. If the required majority is not achieved, the president and vice-president are elected by the United People’s Council, consisting of the 51 members of the National Assembly, as well as by the 104 members of the newly created District Councils and the 710 members of the Local Councils. These two bodies were called into existence under the new Constitution in an effort to bring about a higher degree of administrative decentralization. Under the new system the president received a greater measure of executive authority. He appoints and dismisses the Ministers.
The 1987 Constitution, which served as the basic document to guide the country during the transition to democracy, remedied, in part, the flaws of its predecessor. It was a precondition, placed by the NDP, that local and regional committees be recognized and included in the Constitution as law. At the same time the statutory inclusion of these decentralized organs broadened the participation of the masses in governance and simultaneously weakened the centralized control of the traditional political parties. This is an important addition to the governing of Suriname and this positive development was in part a result of the process of decentralization and mobilization begun under the military. A residency requirement for National Assembly members promoted the idea that parliamentarians be recruited from minority groups with close ties to the interior and rural regions.
The Country Divided (1986-1992)
The year 1987 was marked by the transition to a weak form of democratic governance which was to last only until December 1990. Weak because the newly elected Front government of 1987 had only partial control over the strong and influential military. In fact, the 1987 Constitution guaranteed the military the military privileges embodied in two clauses of the Constitution, principally that of maintaining its role as defender of the revolution. These two clauses would not be removed until the 1992 advent of the Venetiaan New Front government, and only then in the context of a dangerous confrontation between the military and the civilians.
In 1986 a conflict broke out in eastern Suriname, which spread in the subsequent years to central and western Suriname. The conflict involved the national army and the Jungle Commando, an insurgent group consisting mainly of Maroons. At the end of 1986 and during the first half of 1987, severe fighting took place in and around Maroon villages in east-Suriname. Some 10,000 inhabitants sought refuge in neighboring French Guiana, and another 13,000 people from the interior fled to Paramaribo. Lumbering, bauxite and gold mining, and the palm oil industry suffered major setbacks or closed down temporarily or for extended periods in the areas of conflict. In 1989, other illegally armed groups entered into the internal conflict: the Tucayana Amazonas (Amerindian group), Mandela, Angula and Koffiemakka (other Maroon groups).
It is important to note that the war broke out precisely at the time the country was preparing for the complex and delicate transition to democracy, when stakes for both the military and the civilians were very high. Although the war has been called an “internal” conflict, and it was fought out over serious internal issues, there was external involvement of partisan countries whose position was that Commander Bouterse and his military had to be put under pressure to assure the return of the traditional democratic parties. The actions of the Netherlands, the United States, and France appear to have been important sources of relief and support for the insurgents. It is further important to note that foreign support dwindled after the election of the civilian government in 1987 and the insurgency declined sharply in its ability to undertake combat. The insurgency never completely gave up arms during the late 1980’s. On the one hand the military was unwilling to endorse a peace treaty signed with a group they still considered to be dangerous, unpacified rebels. Equally, the Jungle Commando was unwilling to give up arms with a powerful military still in place. The situation would remain so until 1992.
During the late 1980’s tension between the elected Government of President R. Shankar and Commander D. Bouterse of the Armed Forces mounted. In July of 1989 the Government signed the Kourou accord, without the support of the military, with the intent to bring a halt to the interior conflict. The stresses and the strains culminated in the so-called “telephone” coup of December 1990, which dispatched the elected government with one telephone call from a senior ranking military officer. During the weeks thereafter the take-over was sanctioned by Parliament and new elections were called within six months.