The Progressive Workers' and Farmers' Union (), widely known by its abbreviation PALU, is a

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

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

founded on 12 March 1977.

History

The party has its origins in the

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

by the same name founded in 1973. This group founded a political party in early 1977 to participate in the Surinamese general election of 1977. After the 1980 Surinamese coup d'état the party tried to steer the revolt into the direction of a workers' revolution. Under the leadership of Iwan Krolis and Errol Alibux, PALU had close contact with the military leadership headed by

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

and was the only party allowed to be politically active in Suriname. In 1981 and 1983, PALU was part of the Surinamese government, with Errol Alibux serving as Prime Minister of Suriname. In the 2010 Surinamese general election, PALU was part of the Megacombinatie

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

under the leadership of the National Democratic Party led by Desi Bouterse. In the 2015 Surinamese general election, PALU again participated on an individual basis. Although the party achieved only 0.67% of the votes, PALU got one seat in the Coronie District. It lost that seat in the 2020 Surinamese general election, when it earned only 0.30% of the national vote.

References

Political parties in Suriname Socialism in Suriname Socialist parties in South America {{Suriname-party-stub