LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Suriname: Governments
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Since Suriname gained self-rule in 1948 and until 1996 ethnicity has been the defining element of Surinamese politics. Political parties were organized on an ethnic basis and group interests prevailed over national interests. The major parties in Suriname politics were top-down, elite controlled organizations whose leaders provided for their constituencies through patronage, nepotism and the dispensation of favors through the party hierarchy. Racial outburst never took place, since parties always agreed to share power. Governments were always multi-ethnic and multiparty elite cartels. After the 1996 elections the leaders of the traditional coalition parties failed in their attempts to make alliances with smaller parties, in order to achieve a parliamentary majority.
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The Republic of Suriname is a constitutional democracy based on the 1987 constitution. The legislative branch of government consists of a 51-member unicameral National Assembly, simultaneously and popularly elected for a 5-year term.
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Between the years 1993 and 1995, the government of Suriname seriously considered selling concessions of its tropical rainforest to Asian logging companies. These companies were looking to expand their resource base with the same types of trees as were available in their own nations. Declining earnings from other exports such as bauxite forced Suriname to look elsewhere for profit. Selling its trees seemed like an ideal place to start. (http://www.igc.org/wri/wr-96-97/lc_b2.html) Vast areas of land were available. There was, and still is, a very high demand for the product and new industry would provide more income and increased employment for a nation struggling to meet its economic needs
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In 1954, Suriname officially became an internally autonomous part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, and in 1975 it became independent. Just prior to independence, some 100,000 Surinamese, mainly of Asian descent, migrated to the Netherlands. In 1980 the government was ousted by a military coup led by Sgt. Major Désiré Bouterse, and the soldiers' civilian allies were installed in office. Bouterse assumed complete control from 1982 to 1987.
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On the other side of the quation, Suriname's economy was ... struggling. A new source of income from the sale of land, as well as increased employment, tempted the government and rightfully so. A deal like this one would benefit all parties involved, except, of course, the environment. The opportunity cost of cutting down trees can be found in the resulting environmental damage, as well as any other uses the forests may provide such as potential medicines or another industry altogether, eco-tourism.
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In 1995, the government of Suriname requested Peace Corps' assistance in rural community development activities for the Amerindian and Maroon communities. Volunteers work in two project areas: community health and small business development. Working in the interior, Volunteers work on activities that increase awareness of basic hygiene practices, encourage parental involvement in educational activities, promote economical development of community members, and conduct life skills training, incorporating healthy water and sanitation practices.
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