The National Party of Suriname ( nl, Nationale Partij Suriname, NPS) is a social democratic

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 ...

, founded in 1946, and since June 2012 led by

Gregory Rusland Gregory Allan Rusland (born 9 November 1959) is a Surinamese politician. He served as Minister for Natural Resources between 2005 and 2010. In 2012 he became leader of the National Party of Suriname. Rusland has been a member of the National Ass ...

. For a long time it was the largest ruling party in the country, and it has been in government for a total of over 40 years. Of the 16 general elections held in Suriname, the party or a coalition it was a leading part of finished in first place 11 times. The party tends to be more popular among

Afro-Surinamese Afro-Surinamese are the inhabitants of Suriname of Sub-Saharan African ancestry. They are descended from enslaved Africans brought to work on sugar plantations. Many of them escaped the plantations and formed independent settlements together, be ...

and

multiracial people Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

. At the 2005 legislative elections, the party was part of the

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 41.2% of the popular vote and 23 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 ...

. In 1993,

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 ...

became party leader. Since that time, the NPS witnessed a decline in the elections that followed. In June 2012, Venetiaan stepped down from party leadership. Party elections were held for his successor with Gregory Rusland winning seven out of eleven districts, and Ivan Fernald winning four. Under Rusland's leadership, the party has adopted some elements of the

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...

into its ideology and moved slightly closer to the political

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

. In the 2020 elections, the NPS won 3 of the 51 seats.

Electoral results

Representation

Members of the First Santokhi Cabinet (2020)

Members of the Third Venetiaan Cabinet (2005-2010)

Members of the Second Venetiaan Cabinet (2000-2005)

Members of the First Venetiaan Cabinet (1991-1996)

Members of the Shankar Cabinet (1988-1990)

Members of the Radhakishun Cabinet (1986-1987) and the First Wijdenbosch Cabinet (1987-1988)

Members of the Second Arron cabinet (1977-1980)

Members of the First Arron cabinet (1973-1977)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Party Of Suriname Ethnic political parties Political parties in Suriname Social democratic parties in South America Afro-Surinamese