Suriname Elects the Country’s Most Controversial Political Figure as President

On the 19th of July, the Peoples Assembly of Suriname, consisting of municipal and provincial representatives, selected as president former military commander general Desire Bouterse. This is not the first time Bouterse has come to power in Suriname. His first stint as president came during the 1980’s when he took hold of the presidency through a military coup deposing democratically–elected Henck Arron. His autocratic tendencies did not end there; he went on to seize control again in 1990, through what became known as “the telephone coup.” Since then Bouterse has added much towards his dismal résumé, such as being convicted in absentia of drug trafficking and sentenced to eleven years in prison in the Netherlands (though he has yet to serve his sentence). More recently, during his first overseas trip as president to Guyana, Bouterse made light of his conviction dismissing the case as “almost a joke.” Further hindering his credibility are the allegations that he played the definitive role in the murder of fifteen members of the opposition party during his prior reign in the 1980s. President Bouterse promised a change from the past running with his platform of prosperity and social improvement. If the President, who was inaugurated on August 12, 2010, should decide to abandon his past habits and focus his policy on continuity and help in building upon the country’s steady improvements that have allowed Paramaribo to survive the regional financial crisis, he may have some skeptics wondering.

A Brief History of Unrest

Suriname’s short life as a republic began in 1975 with its declaration of independence from the Netherlands, its former colonizer. Within five years of this triumph, discontent began to mount against then President Arron due to economic deterioration, massive migration and perceived nepotism within parliament. The three years following Suriname’s independence were marked with political turmoil and a growing concern over violence, which led to the emigration of approximately 100,000 Surinamese to Holland at a time when its population totaled 450,000. This frustration culminated in a coup in February 1980. The National Military Council (NMR), headed by Bouterse, declared its control over the government and called for the country to join the process of social, economic and moral reorientation. The relatively bloodless coup was accepted by most of the population, as the NMR was quick to appoint a presidential figurehead.

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