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Suriname Government 2020

SOURCE: 2020 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES











Suriname Government 2020
SOURCE: 2020 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES


Page last updated on January 27, 2020

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Suriname
conventional short form: Suriname
local long form: Republiek Suriname
local short form: Suriname
former: Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana
etymology: name may derive from the indigenous "Surinen" people who inhabited the area at the time of European contact

Government type:
presidential republic

Capital:
name: Paramaribo
geographic coordinates: 5 50 N, 55 10 W
time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
etymology: the name may be the corruption of a Carib (Kalina) village or tribe named Parmirbo

Administrative divisions:
10 districts (distrikten, singular - distrikt); Brokopondo, Commewijne, Coronie, Marowijne, Nickerie, Para, Paramaribo, Saramacca, Sipaliwini, Wanica

Independence:
25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands)

National holiday:
Independence Day, 25 November (1975)

Constitution:
history: previous 1975; latest ratified 30 September 1987, effective 30 October 1987
amendments: proposed by the National Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the total membership; amended 1992 (2018)

Legal system:
civil law system influenced by Dutch civil law; note - a new criminal code was enacted in 2017

International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Suriname
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010); Vice President Ashwin ADHIN (since 12 August 2015); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010); Vice President Ashwin ADHIN (since 12 August 2015)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
elections/appointments: president and vice president indirectly elected by the National Assembly; president and vice president serve a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 25 May 2015 (next to be held in May 2020)
election results: Desire Delano BOUTERSE reelected president unopposed; National Assembly vote - NA

Legislative branch:
description: unicameral National Assembly or Nationale Assemblee (51 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held on 25 May 2015 (next to be held in May 2020)
election results: percent of vote by party - NDP 45.5%, V7 37.2%, A-Com 10.5%, DOE 4.3%, PALU 0.7%, other 1.8%; seats by party - NDP 26, V7 18, A-Com 5, DOE 1, PALU 1; composition - men 38, women 13, percent of women 25.5%
note: seats by party as of April 2017 - seats by party - NDP 26, VHP 9, ABOP 5, PL 3, NPS 2, BEP 2, DOE 1, PALU 1, independent 2

Judicial branch:
highest courts: High Court of Justice of Suriname (consists of the court president, vice president, and 4 judges); note - appeals beyond the High Court are referred to the Caribbean Court of Justice; human rights violations can be appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with judgments issued by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights
judge selection and term of office: court judges appointed by the national president in consultation with the National Assembly, the State Advisory Council, and the Order of Private Attorneys; judges serve for life
subordinate courts: cantonal courts

Political parties and leaders:
Alternative Combination or A-Com (coalition includes ABOP, KTPI, Party for Democracy and Development)
Brotherhood and Unity in Politics or BEP [Celsius WATERBERG]
Democratic Alternative '91 or DA91 [Angelique DEL CASTILLO]
General Liberation and Development Party or ABOP [Ronnie BRUNSWIJK}
National Democratic Party or NDP [Desire Delano BOUTERSE]
National Party of Suriname or NPS [Gregory RUSLAND]
Party for Democracy and Development in Unity or DOE [Carl BREEVELD]
Party for National Unity and Solidarity or KTPI [Willy SOEMITA]
People's Alliance (Pertjaja Luhur) or PL [Paul SOMOHARDJO]
Progressive Workers' and Farmers' Union or PALU [Jim HOK]
Surinamese Labor Party or SPA [Guno CASTELEN]
Progressive Reform Party or VHP [Chandrikapersad SANTOKHI]
Victory 7 or V7 [Chandrikapresad SANTOKHI] (formerly the New Front for Democracy and Development or NF; an electoral coalition of NPS, VHP, DA91, PL, SPA formed only for the May 2015 election)

International organization participation:
ACP, AOSIS, Caricom, CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OIC, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, Petrocaribe, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
Ambassador Niermala Sakoentala BADRISING (since 21 July 2017)
chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 460, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 244-7488
FAX: [1] (202) 244-5878
consulate(s) general: Miami

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Karen Lynn WILLIAMS (since 20 November 2018)
telephone: [597] 472-900
embassy: 165 Kristalstraat, Paramaribo
mailing address: US Department of State, PO Box 1821, Paramaribo
FAX: [597] 410-972

Flag description:
five horizontal bands of green (top, double width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width); a large, yellow, five-pointed star is centered in the red band; red stands for progress and love, green symbolizes hope and fertility, white signifies peace, justice, and freedom; the star represents the unity of all ethnic groups; from its yellow light the nation draws strength to bear sacrifices patiently while working toward a golden future

National symbol(s):
royal palm, faya lobi (flower); national colors: green, white, red, yellow

National anthem:
name: "God zij met ons Suriname!" (God Be With Our Suriname)
lyrics/music: Cornelis Atses HOEKSTRA and Henry DE ZIEL/Johannes Corstianus DE PUY
note: adopted 1959; originally adapted from a Sunday school song written in 1893 and contains lyrics in both Dutch and Sranang Tongo


NOTE: 1) The information regarding Suriname on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Suriname Government 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Suriname Government 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
  a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
  b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.






This page was last modified 27-Jan-20
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