President of Suriname

History

The office of president was created upon independence from the Netherlands in 1975. Until 1987, the presidency was mostly a ceremonial post, discharging most of the functions previously vested in the monarchy of the Netherlands. For all intents and purposes, real power was vested in the prime minister.

The first officeholder was Johan Ferrier, a schoolteacher and veteran politician who had served as governor since 1968. He resigned as president in August 1980, several months after a coup d'état. From then until 1988, the presidents were essentially army-installed puppets of army commander Dési Bouterse, who ruled as a de facto military dictator with few practical checks on his power.

Bouterse allowed multiparty elections in 1987, shortly after the current constitution was approved in a referendum. The presidency became an executive post, with duties and responsibilities similar to those of presidents in semi-presidential republics. On 24 December 1990, two days after Bouterse's resignation as army commander, the army called president Ramsewak Shankar to inform him that he and his cabinet were removed from office, in another coup d'état; police chief and acting army commander Ivan Graanoogst was appointed acting president. On 27 December 1990, Johannes Kraag became the president. The army returned power to civilians in 1991, and the president has been freely elected ever since.

Election

The president and a vice president are elected by no less than a two-thirds supermajority of members in the National Assembly to a five-year mandate and are accountable to the Assembly. During their time in office, the president must forfeit any additional posts in politics or business.

Qualification

A candidate must be a Surinamese national (resident in the country for at least six years) who is at least 30 years of age. A candidate must win at least two-thirds of the votes in the Assembly to be elected. If no candidate wins two-thirds after three rounds, the vote then goes to the United People's Congress, composed of the Assembly and local government officials. In this case, a simple majority is required.

Powers and duties

The president is vested with extensive functional powers. The president names and dismisses ministers, signs bills, and names and dismisses diplomatic staff. She declares war and states of emergency with the ratification of the National Assembly. She concludes foreign treaties and agreements, again with the assent of the Assembly. She also exercises ceremonial duties such as conferring awards, receiving foreign diplomats, and granting pardons.

List of presidents

;Political parties

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:21 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:110 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today =

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/ TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1975 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1975

Colors = id:independent value:rgb(0.87,0.87,0.87) legend:None_(Independent) id:nps value:rgb(0,0.59,0.30) legend:National_Party_of_Suriname id:pnr value:rgb(0,0.28,0.67) legend:Nationalist_Republican_Party id:vhp value:rgb(1,0.4,0) legend:Progressive_Reform_Party id:ndp value:rgb(0.53,0.16,0.56) legend:National_Democratic_Party

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData = pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"

BarData = bar:Ferrier bar:Chin_A_Sen bar:Ramdat_Misier bar:Shankar bar:Kraag bar:Venetiaan bar:Wijdenbosch bar:Bouterse bar:Santokhi bar:Simons

PlotData = width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Ferrier from: 25/11/1975 till: 13/08/1980 color:nps text:"Johan Ferrier" bar:Chin_A_Sen from: 15/08/1980 till: 04/02/1982 color:pnr text:"Henk Chin A Sen" bar:Ramdat_Misier from: 08/02/1982 till: 25/01/1988 color:independent text:"Fred Ramdat Misier" bar:Shankar from: 25/01/1988 till: 24/12/1990 color:vhp text:"Ramsewak Shankar" bar:Kraag from: 29/12/1990 till: 16/09/1991 color:nps text:"Johan Kraag" bar:Venetiaan from: 16/09/1991 till: 15/09/1996 color:nps from: 12/08/2000 till: 12/08/2010 color:nps text:"Ronald Venetiaan" bar:Wijdenbosch from: 15/09/1996 till: 12/08/2000 color:ndp text:"Jules Wijdenbosch" bar:Bouterse from: 12/08/2010 till: 16/07/2020 color:ndp text:"Dési Bouterse" bar:Santokhi from: 16/07/2020 till: 16/07/2025 color:vhp text:"Chan Santokhi" bar:Simons from: 16/07/2025 till: $today color:ndp text:"Jennifer Geerlings-Simons"

Notes

References

References

1. [https://caricom.org/tag/her-excellency-dr-jennifer-geerlings-simons/ Her Excellency Dr. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons]
2. "Starnieuws – Salaris alle ministers is ruim SRD 15.000 netto".
3. BFMTV. (14 November 2016). "Qui sont les chefs d'État les mieux rémunérés au monde?".
4. "Suriname's parliament elects the country's first female president amid economic turmoil".
5. "Buitengewone openbare vergadering gestart".
6. "Kabinet van de President - Historie".
7. (15 August 1980). "Suriname President Ousted in Army-Backed Coup; U.S. Says Capital Is Calm". The New York Times.
8. De Vries, Paul. (15 August 1980). "President Afgezet". Limburgs Dagblad.
9. (14 August 1980). "Chin A Sen is nu de dubbele leider". Limburgs Dagblad.
10. (6 February 1982). "AROUND THE WORLD; Military in Suriname Takes Over Government". The New York Times.
11. (5 February 1982). "Chin A Sen onder druk afgetreden".
12. Howard W. French. (27 December 1990). "Suriname Coup Leaders Had Power Already". The New York Times.