Jules Wijdenbosch
Jules Albert Wijdenbosch was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on May 2, 1941. He is a politician who served as Prime Minister of Suriname from 1987 to 1988, and again from 1990 to 1991. He was a member of the National Democratic Party, and was elected President of the Republic in 1996. As a consequence of the protests between 1998 and 1999 and accusations of administrative corruption, Congress suspended him from his functions in 2000.
Early Years
Jules Albert Wijdenbosch was born in Paramaribo on May 2, 1941. From a young age he studied political science and public administration at the University of Amsterdam and later served as a civil servant in the Amsterdam district council.
Political career
He was Prime Minister from 1987 to 1988, in the government of L.F. Ramdat Misier, but after the 1988 presidential elections the new president Ramsewak Shankar changed the position of prime minister to that of vice president. After President Ramsewak Shankar was overthrown in 1990, Army Commander Ivan Graanoogst assumed power for 24 hours. Then Johan Kraag succeeds him in power; In 1991, he appointed Wijdenbosch as vice president of the country, until September 1991 when a new president (Ronald Venetiaan) was elected and at the same time, he elected a new vice president.
1996 Elections
In the elections held in 1996, no party won the majority of votes and less than the 2-thirds of the seats needed to choose the candidate: the New Front got 24 seats and the National Democratic Party 16, and the rest was distributed in the other minority parties. In the end, elections were held again, which gave Jules Wijdenbosch of the National Democratic Party the triumphant candidate, taking office on September 14, 1996.
Presidency 1996-2000
At the start of Wijdenbosch's new government, former coup leader and military chief Dési Bouterse, who had commanded Suriname for 11 years, was totally excluded.
Under his rule, in April 1997, the Netherlands issued an international arrest warrant against former dictator Dési Bouterse, suspected of having links to drug trafficking. In response, then-President Wijdenbosch appointed the former dictator as a state councilor, granting him diplomatic immunity.
At the end of that year, a failed coup attempt culminated in the arrest of 17 low-ranking officers. The coup attempt was related to the working conditions of the soldiers, deteriorated by low wages and the aging of their equipment.
Acts of corruption during the government
In August 1997, Wijdembosch was accused by one of his ministers of extravagant spending, such as the purchase of a presidential yacht. Wijdenbosch was forced to agree with minority groups in parliament to consolidate the support of the National Assembly. In 1998 Wijdenbosch had to seek support to have a majority in the government.
After leaving power, the International Monetary Fund expressed its concern about the great debt that was owed, and it was learned that Wijdenbosch had paid with a public debt credit for a car that consisted of $50,000. The Central Bank of Suriname said that Wijdenbosch had used $300,000 of public debt.
The great opposition to Wijdembosch
In June 1998 the Association of Manufacturers and Traders closed for several days calling for the resignation of the government and the establishment of a non-political administration. The closure, which followed a strike by patrol workers who opposed opening the sector to foreign participation, threw the country into chaos. At the end of the year, the agricultural and mining sectors staged new labor protests due to the government's delay in adjusting the exchange rates with the commercial profit margin, after the devaluation suffered by the Surinamese guilder against the US dollar.
Social unrest and an unprecedented economic crisis intensified in the first months of 1999. The largest general strike in Suriname's history and gigantic protest demonstrations that lasted for months in Paramaribo led Parliament to depose, in June, to Wijdenbosch's cabinet, accusing him of the country's economic collapse. At the beginning of June 1999, the National Assembly approved by a majority a notion of censure against President Wijdenbosch, but the 2-thirds majority to dismiss him was not achieved. Failing to remove Wijdenbosch, they force him to call early elections in May 2000. In May 2000, the NF won parliamentary elections and, in August, Ronald Venetiaan was elected president with 37 of the 51 votes of the National Assembly.
Government work
The largest construction in the Republic of Suriname is the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge that runs from Paramaribo to the city of Nieuw Amsterdam. This bridge was 4 years under construction, with the help of the United States and the Surinamese government. This bridge carries more than 100,000 people per month connecting the 2 large cities. It had a cost of more than 1,000,000 million dollars.
After his government
After his government was forcibly terminated, Wijdenbosch continued in government as finance minister, but his previous acts of corruption forced him to resign in 2001.
On January 18, 2002, the Assembly voted to initiate legal proceedings against Wijdenbosch and his former minister Errol Alibux on suspicion of involvement in the December Murders. Although the sentence and the merits have not yet been handed down, former President Wijdenbosch is still awaiting the sentence, while former Minister Errol Alibux left the country shortly after the sentence was handed down.
Then there was another complaint, this time against former president Jules Albert Wijdenbosch once again accused of corruption, for selling a building at a value three times higher than the original value, in Paramaribo. Former President Wijdenbosch attended the courts, who found him not guilty due to lack of evidence.