Willy_Soemita

Willy Soemita

Willy Soemita

Surinamese politician (1936–2022)

William Soemita (1 March 1936 – 23 September 2022[1]) was a Surinamese parliamentarian and minister. He was the only Deputy Vice President of Suriname, serving from 1988 to 1990.

Quick Facts Deputy Vice President of Suriname, President ...

His father Iding Soemita was born in West Java 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 party.[2]

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.[2] This ended in 1990 because of the military coup known as the "telephone coup".[3] From 1991 to 1996 he was again Minister.[2]

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.[4]

References

  1. [1]
    Dagblad Suriname, Willy Soemita overleden, 24 September 2022
  2. [2]
    "KTPI: Kerukanan Tulodo Pranatan Inggil". NOS.nl (in Dutch). 26 March 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Bouterse riskeert zes jaar extra gevangenisstraf". Suriname Herald (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. [4]
    "Soemita draagt voorzittershamer over aan Ganga". Starnieuws (in Dutch). 28 November 2019.
Suriname Stub icon

This article about a Surinamese politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Willy_Soemita, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.