Brotherhood and Unity in Politics

Brotherhood and Unity in Politics Broederschap en Eenheid in de Politiek
Abbreviation	BEP
Founded	29 April 1973
Split from	PBP
Ideology	Social democracy Historical: Maroon interests
Political position	Centre-left
National Assembly	1 / 51
Politics of Suriname Political parties Elections

Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (Dutch : Broederschap en Eenheid in de Politiek, BEP) is a political party in Suriname founded on 29 April 1973. ^[1]

History

It was originally founded as the Bush Negro Unity Party (Dutch : Bosnegers Eenheid Partij) to represent the Maroon community in interior areas of the country ^[2] and was renamed in 1987. ^[3] It turned its focus away from the promotion of a specific ethnicity's interests, although it still enjoys popularity among the Maroon community. ^[4]

The party did not participate in the elections of 1987, because the Surinamese Interior War made it difficult to access their members in the interior. ^[1]

At the 2005 legislative election, the party was part of the "A-Combination", ^[1] an alliance that won 7.5% of the popular vote and five out of 51 seats in the National Assembly. ^[5]

In 2012, there was an internal struggle within the party. The party was part of the A-Combination, a union of all Maroon parties, but wanted to leave the alliance, however deputies Diana Pokie and Waldie Adjaiso opposed the suggestion causing a split within the party. In April 2012, BEP refused to support the Amnesty Law which would grant the suspects in the December Murders, including Dési Bouterse, immunity. ^[6] In May 2012, the two ministers of the BEP were dismissed by Bouterse. ^[7] Caprino Alendy who had been the chairperson since 1987 stepped down to be replaced by Celsius Waterberg  [ nl ]. ^[8]

In 2018, Ronny Asabina  [ nl ] was elected as the Chairperson of the party. ^[9] In the 2020 elections, the BEP won 2 seats. ^[10] It contested in only 6 of the districts, and did not run in Nickerie, Commewijne, Coronie and Saramacca. The BEP is not part of the 2020 coalition. ^[11]

Electoral results

Election	Seats won	+/–	Votes	Districts won	Government	Alliance
1973	0 / 39		3,198		Opposition	none
1987	Did not contest
1991	3 / 51				Opposition	Democratic Alternative '91
1996	0 / 51				Opposition
2000	1 / 51	1		Brokopondo: 1 (of 3)	Opposition
2005	4 / 51	3		Paramaribo: 1 (of 17) Brokopondo: 1 (of 3) Marowijne: 1 (of 3) Sipaliwini: 1 (of 4)	Coalition	A-Combination
2010	4 / 51	0		Brokopondo: 2 (of 3) Sipaliwini: 2 (of 4)	Coalition
2015	2 / 51	2	4,618	Paramaribo: 1 (of 17) Sipaliwini: 1 (of 4)	Opposition	V7
2020	2 / 51	0	6,835	Sipaliwini: 1 (of 4) Brokopondo: 1 (of 3)	Opposition	none

References

1. "BEP: Partij voor Broederschap en Eenheid in de Politiek". Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
2. "Brunswijk: 'Gesprek over samenwerking ABOP en BEP levert niets op'". Waterkant (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
3. "42ste jaardag BEP". Dagblad Suriname (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
4. "Terugblik BEP". GFC Nieuws via Nieuws Suriname (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
5. "Suriname General Election Results - 25 May 2005". Caribbean Elections. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
6. "Amnesty law change may end current trial". Amnesty International. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
7. "Caprino Alendy: 'Waterberg heeft de BEP behoorlijk geschaad'". Dagblad Suriname. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
8. "Nieuwe leider Bep lonkt naar geroyeerde parlementariërs". Waterkant (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
9. "Ronny Asabina nieuwe voorzitter van partij BEP in Suriname". Waterkant (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
10. "Openbare zitting CHS: Geen verandering DNA-zetels". StarNieuws (in Dutch). 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-06-17. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
11. "Breaking: Santokhi president en Brunswijk DNA-voorzitter". Star Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 May 2020.

External links

• Official Facebook page (in Dutch)