Diana Marilva Pokie (born 1979) is a

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 ...

se politician. She was the assembly member from

Brokopondo Brokopondo is the capital town of the Brokopondo District, Suriname. It is located on the west shore of the Suriname river, just north of the Afobaka dam. Brokopondo can be reached via the Afobakaweg from Paranam to Afobaka. Nearby is a granite mo ...

for the

Brotherhood and Unity in Politics Brotherhood and Unity in Politics ( nl, Broederschap en Eenheid in de Politiek) is a political party in Suriname founded on 29 April 1973. History It was originally founded as the Bush Negro Unity Party ( nl, Bosnegers Eenheid Partij) to represe ...

(BEP) before she was expelled. She returned to the assembly as the Brokopondo member representing the

General Liberation and Development Party The General Liberation and Development Party ( nl, Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij, ABOP) is a political party in Suriname, founded and chaired by ex-rebel leader Ronnie Brunswijk in 1990 after several members of the BEP were expell ...

(ABOP) party. She became the first female vice-chairman of that party in 2019. On 16 July 2020, Pokie became Minister of Land and Forest Management. On 3 August 2021, Pokie was replaced by .

Biography

Pokie was born in 1979 in

Brownsweg Brownsweg is a town and resort in Suriname in the Brokopondo District. Its population at the 2012 census was 4,793. History The town was named after the road that leads to the Brownsberg, and the Brownsberg Nature Park. It is situated near the ...

. In her youth, the family moved to

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

. Pokie is a teacher by profession. She started her teaching career at VOJ Brokopondo where she worked for four years, and became vice president of VOJ Hockeystraat in Ramgoelam,

Latour Latour may refer to: People * LaTour, American musician Surname * House of Baillet ** Alfred de Baillet Latour (1901–1980), **Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876–1942), Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the International Olympic Comm ...

. In 2005 she became Assembly member for the

party. Five years later she was elected but she fell out with her party. She lost her place as the BEP representative and she switched her allegiance to the

(ABOP) in 2014 appearing in yellow and black and lauded by the leader,

Ronnie Brunswijk Ronnie Brunswijk (; born 7 March 1961) is a Surinamese politician, businessman, footballer, convicted drug trafficker, former rebel leader, and the current Vice President of Suriname. Brunswijk served in the early 1980s as the personal bodyguard ...

. The following year she was elected again to the Assembly. In 2017 while she was the MP,

was chosen as the region to celebrate independence and Pokie was particularly pleased that they would be hosted at the largest village, Brownsweg, as that was her birthplace. Striking goldminers in Suriname

In May 2019, she became the first female vice-chairman of the ABOP. She was called on that year to hear the complaints of local prospectors who had been moved on from the Canadian owned

Rosebel gold mine The Rosebel gold mine is jointly owned by Iamgold (95%) and the government of Suriname (5%). The mine is located in the mineral-rich Brokopondo District in northeastern Suriname, South America. The Rosebel property lies approximately 85 kilomet ...

in scenes where one man was killed. She called the local police action as dastardly and she asked the mine owners to find a solution and that they should feel responsible and they should pay compensation to the dead man's family. In 2020 she was re-elected again for Brokopondo, this time there were two successful candidates from the ABOP party. The party also took two seats in Marowijne and in Sipaliwini. With the single seat in

Para Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

and Paramaribo, this brought the total to eight members in the assembly. On 16 July, Pokie became the Minister of Land and Forest Management. in the cabinet of Santokhi. On 11 October 2020, Pokie became the first cabinet minister to test positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

. She quarantined herself, but it was not disclosed whether she had been in contact with other ministers. Pokie announced that her term as minister ended on 16 July 2021. On 3 August 2021, was installed as Minister of Land Policy and Forest Management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokie, Diana M. 1979 births 21st-century Surinamese women politicians Living people Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) Brotherhood and Unity in Politics politicians General Liberation and Development Party politicians People from Brokopondo District Government ministers of Suriname