The Democratic Alternative '91 ( nl, Democratisch Alternatief '91, DA'91) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

History

The DA '91 was founded in 1991 when it split off from the National Party of Suriname. The party was founded shortly before the 1991 general election. The intention had been to establish the party in 1991 but the " Telephone Coup" that removed President Ramsewak Shankar from office interfered with the planning. Winston Jessurun was one of the founders, together with Gerard Brunings. Brunings has stated that when establishing the party they asked the Dutch embassy for programs of Dutch political parties and that of

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

appealed most to them. With the most significant change being changing Netherlands for Suriname. In the 1991 elections, the party obtained 9 seats. At the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

the number of seats dropped to four. It further dropped to two in the

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presiden ...

and one in the 2005 elections. Even though the party gained only one seat it was able to join the third cabinet of President

Ronald Venetiaan Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (born 18 June 1936) is a former politician who served as the 6th President of Suriname. Biography Venetiaan was born in Paramaribo. In 1955, Venetiaan left Suriname to study mathematics and physics at the University of Lei ...

and had one Minister in the cabinet and received an ambassadorship. For the 2010 elections, the DA'91 joined the political alliance

New Front for Democracy and Development The New Front for Democracy and Development ( nl, Nieuw Front voor Democratie en Ontwikkeling) was a social-democratic political alliance in Suriname. At the legislative elections (25 May 2005), the alliance won 41.2% of the popular votes and 23 ...

that won 31.6% of the popular vote and 14 out of 51 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Out of these 14, one seat went to DA'91. For the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

, DA'91 entered the elections as part of the political alliance V7. On 30 September 2015

Angelic Alihusain-del Castilho Angelic del Castilho (born 4 April 1967), also known as Angelic Alihusain-del Castilho, is a Surinamese politician of Democratic Alternative '91, and a former ambassador. Early life Angelic del Castilho was born on 4 April 1967 in Paramaribo, ...

became chairperson of the party, succeeding Winston Jessurun.

References

External links

Official site (archived 13 February 2019)
{{Surinamese political parties Liberal parties in South America Political parties in Suriname