William Soemita (1 March 1936 – 23 September 2022) was 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 parliamentarian and minister. He was the only Deputy Vice President of Suriname, serving from 1988 to 1990. His father Iding Soemita was born in

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

and came as an indentured labourer to Suriname where he founded the political party Kerukunan Tulodo Pranatan Inggil (KTPI) in 1949. In August 1972, Willy succeeded his father as chairman of the

Javanese Surinamese Javanese Surinamese people are an ethnic group of Javanese descent in Suriname. They have been present since the late 19th century, when their first members were selected as indentured laborers by the Dutch colonizers from the former Dutch ...

party.

Career

Soemita became head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, then Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in 1973. After the restoration of democracy in Suriname, Soemita returned as minister in 1988, taking the portfolio of Minister of Social Affairs and Housing. This ended in 1990 because of the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

known as the "telephone coup". From 1991 to 1996 he was again Minister. In 2005, he coached Sonny Kertoidjojo to succeed him as chairman of the KTPI. However, in early 2007, Kertoidjojo decided not to run. The then 71-year-old Soemita was then re-elected as chairman of KTPI. In November 2019, Soemita retired from his position as party chairman, and was succeeded by Iwan Ganga. Soemita said that he would remain active in the party and support the new chairman.

References

1936 births 2022 deaths Agriculture ministers of Suriname Economy ministers of Suriname Fisheries ministers of Suriname Housing ministers of Suriname Social affairs ministers of Suriname Party for National Unity and Solidarity politicians People from Commewijne District Surinamese people of Javanese descent Surinamese politicians {{suriname-politician-stub