In 2015, the population of Suriname was estimated to be around 576,000 people. The economy of Suriname was based on petroleum and gold. It was heavily dependent on foreign investment from countries like the Netherlands and the United States. Politically, Suriname was a unitary presidential republic ruled by President Desi Bouterse since 2010. In 2015, His Excellency Winston Lackin served as Prime Minister while His Excellency Desi Bouterse served as President of the Republic. The Parliament of Suriname was composed of two chambers: National Assembly and Senate. In terms of defence, Suriname had strong military ties with Brazil which it joined in 2004 as part of its post-independence security policy. Suriname also maintained strong diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries in South America as well as other countries around the world. See ehealthfacts for Suriname in the year of 2005.
Yearbook 2015
Suriname. According to COUNTRYAAH, Paramaribo is the capital of Suriname which is located in South America. President Dési Bouterse was re-elected on May 25 and sworn in for a new five-year term in mid-August. His party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), became the first party in Suriname’s history to win its own majority in the congressional elections held simultaneously, with 27 out of 51 seats. He was constitutionally elected by Congress members only after the NDP gained a two-thirds majority along with several small parties. The largest opposition party, V7, got 17 seats and its party leader Chandrikapersad Santokhi quickly acknowledged Bouterses victory.
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Bouterse appointed a government largely made up of technocrats, which can be seen as a recognition of the country’s economic problems. It was also able to set up at the end of July an advisory economic body with representatives of trade unions, political parties and business. Their recommendations on austerity measures and tax increases could only become relevant once the election was over. The opposition’s criticism of Bouterse during the election campaign pertained to large public spending and foreign debt, which reached $ 1.7 billion in 2014, the highest level in 15 years, while the foreign exchange reserve was halved in three years. However, some of the economic problems were attributed to the fall in prices of two of Suriname’s most important export products, oil and gold. One of President Bouterses’ stated goals was to diversify the economy by, among other things, favoring agriculture.
Despite the fact that Suriname has its own border conflict with neighboring Guyana, Bouterse in his installation figure supported Guyana vis-à-vis Venezuela, which claims a large part of Guyana’s territory. Guyana President David Granger was one of only two heads of state present at the installation.