Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

The Democracy Programme’s Soundboard, which was launched on 11 August 2007, consists of 9 representatives of political parties, from ruling (4), opposition (3) and extra parliamentary (2) parties. This body of political parties will be involved in the development of the Democracy Programme and promote the activities within their parties.


People’s participation

The Democracy Programme is a joint initiative of the Democracy Unit of the University of Suriname and UNDP and is sponsored by NIMD. It is designed to enhance people's participation and interparty dialogue in Suriname where multiparty democracy was re-established in 1987 after 8 years of military rule. Training and capacity building of the parties is another essential part of the Democracy Programme since many parties are only active during election times.

Programme coordinator Mr Hans Breeveld explains the need to bring parties together in this programme: “Our parties are mainly divided along ethnic lines. From an ideological perspective there are no real differences. But still, it is difficult to design a shared national agenda.”

In the upcoming months research and seminars on public financing of political parties and decentralisation of politics are planned.