Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President Ramsewak SHANKAR
(since 25 January 1988); Vice President and Prime Minister Henck Alfonsus Eugene
ARRON (since 25 January 1988)
Political parties and leaders: 25 February Movement established by Lt. Col. Desire Bouterse in November 1983, but much of its activity taken over by New Democratic Party (NDP) in May 1987; leftists (all small groups)—Revolutionary People's Party (RVP), Michael Naarendorp; Progressive Workers and Farmers (PALU), Iwan Krolis; traditional parties—Progressive Reform Party (VHP), Jaggernath Lachmon; National Party of Suriname (NPS), Henck Arron; Indonesian Peasants Party (KTPI), Willy Soemita; the VHP, NPS, and KTPI formed a coalition known as The Front in July 1987 that overwhelmingly defeated the NDP in the November 1987 elections
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Assembly—last held 25 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results—The Front 80%, others 20%; seats—(51 total) The Front 40, NDP 3, PALU 4, Pendawa Llwa 4
Member of: ACP, ECLA, FAO, GATT, G-77, IBA, IBRD, ICAO,
IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM,
OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Willem A. UDENHOUT; Chancery at Suite 108, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244-7488 or 7490 through 7492; there is a Surinamese Consulate General in Miami; US—Ambassador Richard HOWLAND; Embassy at Dr. Sophie Redmonstraat 129, Paramaribo (mailing address is P. O. Box 1821, Paramaribo); telephone [597] 72900 or 76459
Flag: five horizontal bands of green (top, double width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width); there is a large yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band
- Economy Overview: The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounts for about 80% of export earnings and 40% of tax revenues. The economy has been in trouble since the Dutch ended development aid in 1982. A drop in world bauxite prices that started in the late 1970s and continued until late 1986, was followed by the outbreak of a guerrilla insurgency in the interior. The guerrillas targeted the economic infrastructure, crippling the important bauxite sector and shutting down other export industries. These problems have created both high inflation and high unemployment. A small gain in economic growth of 3.6% was registered in 1988 due to reduced guerrilla activity and improved international markets for bauxite.