The early history of Suriname dates from 3000 BCE when Native Americans first inhabited the area. The Dutch acquired Suriname from the English, and European settlement in any numbers dates from the 17th century, when it was a plantation colony utilizing slavery for sugar cultivation. With abolition in the late 19th century, planters sought labor from China, Madeira, India, and Indonesia, which was also colonized by the Dutch. Dutch is Suriname's official language. Owing to its diverse population, it has also developed a creole language, Sranan Tongo.
Desiré Delano Bouterse is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's de facto leader after conducting a military coup and establishing a period of military rule. In 1987, Bouterse founded the National Democratic Party (NDP). On 25 May 2010, Bouterse's political alliance, the Megacombinatie, which included the NDP, won the parliamentary elections, and on 19 July 2010, Bouterse was elected as President of Suriname with 36 of 50 parliament votes. He was inaugurated on 12 August 2010.
The National Democratic Party is a political party in Suriname. It was founded on 4 July 1987 by Surinamese leader Dési Bouterse, and was one of the first parties in the country to have a stable base of support across different ethnic groups. In the 2015 general election the party scored 45.56% of the vote and 26 of 51 seats in parliament.
Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 December 1973 with the transition government, to 25 February 1980. He was overthrown in a coup d'état by the military, led by Dési Bouterse. Released in 1981 after charges of corruption were dropped, he returned to banking, his previous career. In 1987, Arron was elected as Vice President of Suriname and served until another coup in 1990 overthrew the government.
The Progressive Reform Party, is a political party in Suriname. It was originally founded in January 1949 as a merger of three parties to represent the Indo-Surinamese community. The party occupies a position straddling the political centre and centre-left, advocating for a combination of social-democratic and social-liberal policies under the Third Way philosophy. During the party's history it frequently allied itself with the National Party of Suriname (NPS) that historically represented the Afro-Surinamese community.
Brotherhood and Unity in Politics is a political party in Suriname founded on 29 April 1973.
Seeka is a Surinamese political party led by Paul Abena representing the interests of rural inhabitants. Starting in 2005, it ran as part of the "A-Combination" together with the General Liberation and Development Party and the Brotherhood and Unity in Politics, which received 7.3% of the popular votes and five out of 51 seats in The National Assembly. It left the A-Combination in 2015 to form the A Nyun Combination together with the BP-2011 and the Rural Inhabitants' Party, which did not receive a seat in the 2015 general election. Since 2018, the party co-operates with the General Liberation and Development Party, although an attempt to form a joint list was hindered by an anti-list combination law passed by Dési Bouterse.
The December murders were the murders on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized the military dictatorship then ruling Suriname. Thirteen of these men were arrested on December 7 between 2 am and 5 am while sleeping in their homes. The other two were Surendre Rambocus and Jiwansingh Sheombar who were already imprisoned for attempting a countercoup in March 1982. Soldiers of Dési Bouterse took them to Fort Zeelandia, where they were heard as "suspects in a trial" by Bouterse and other sergeants in a self-appointed court. After these "hearings" they were tortured and shot dead. The circumstances remain unclear. On 10 December 1982, Bouterse claimed on national television that all of the detainees had been shot dead "in an attempt to flee".
General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2005. The governing New Front for Democracy and Development of president Ronald Venetiaan lost seats, remaining the largest party but failing to get a majority in the National Assembly of Suriname. Despite this Venetiaan was re-elected as president after obtaining sufficient support to win a majority in the election for president.
The 1980 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup, was a military coup in Suriname which occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants of the Surinamese Armed Forces (SKM) led by Dési Bouterse overthrew the government of Prime Minister Henck Arron with a violent coup d'état. This marked the beginning of the military dictatorship that dominated the country from 1980 until 1991. The dictatorship featured the presence of an evening curfew, the lack of freedom of press, a ban on political parties, a restriction on the freedom of assembly, a high level of government corruption and the summary executions of political opponents.
General elections were held in Suriname on 25 November 1987. They were the first held in the country since the first post-independence elections in 1977, and the first since a new constitution was approved in a referendum held a month earlier.
Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president of Suriname. On 13 July, Santokhi was elected president by acclamation in an uncontested election. He was inaugurated on 16 July.
Liakat Ali Errol Alibux is a Surinamese politician historically associated to the PALU.
The Megacombinatie was a political alliance in the 2010 Surinamese general election. The alliance was founded on 5 July 2008 and consisted of:
The Nationalist Republican Party was a political party in Suriname, existing from 1959 to 1980.
Eduard Johan "Eddy" Bruma was a Surinamese politician, lawyer and writer.
The Progressive Surinamese People's Party was a political party in Suriname. The party was a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of America.
The 1990 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Telephone Coup, was a military coup in Suriname on 24 December 1990. The coup was carried out by the acting commander-in-chief of the Suriname National Army (SNL), Police Chief Ivan Graanoogst. As a result of the coup, President Ramsewak Shankar was dismissed from power, and parliament and government were disbanded.
General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2020. The elections occurred concurrently with an economic crisis in Suriname, as well as the COVID-19 crisis.
