Brotherhood and Unity in Politics
Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (Dutch: Broederschap en Eenheid in de Politiek) is a political party in Suriname founded on 29 April 1973.[1] HistoryIt was originally founded as the Bush Negro Unity Party (Dutch: Bosnegers Eenheid Partij) to represent the Maroon community in interior areas of the country[2] and was renamed in 1987.[3] It turned its focus away from the promotion of a specific ethnicity's interests, although it still enjoys popularity among the Maroon community.[4] The party did not participate in the elections of 1987, because the Surinamese Interior War made it difficult to access their members in the interior.[1] At the 2005 legislative election, the party was part of the "A-Combination",[1] an alliance that won 7.5% of the popular vote and five out of 51 seats in the National Assembly.[5] In 2012, there was an internal struggle within the party. The party was part of the A-Combination, a union of all Maroon parties, but wanted to leave the alliance, however deputies Diana Pokie and Waldie Adjaiso opposed the suggestion causing a split within the party. In April 2012, BEP refused to support the Amnesty Law which would grant the suspects in the December Murders, including Dési Bouterse, immunity.[6] In May 2012, the two ministers of the BEP were dismissed by Bouterse.[7] Caprino Alendy who had been the chairperson since 1987 stepped down to be replaced by Celsius Waterberg .[8] In 2018, Ronny Asabina was elected as the Chairperson of the party.[9] In the 2020 elections, the BEP won 2 seats.[10] It contested in only 6 of the districts, and did not run in Nickerie, Commewijne, Coronie and Saramacca. The BEP is not part of the 2020 coalition.[11] Electoral results
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