William Soemita (1 March 1936 – 23 September 2022) was a

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 ...

se parliamentarian and minister. He was the only Deputy Vice President of Suriname, serving from 1988 to 1990. His father Iding Soemita was born in

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

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 Javanese Surinamese are an ethnic group of Javanese people, Javanese and by extension Indonesians, Indonesian descent in Suriname. They have been present since the late 19th century, when their first members were selected as Indentured servitu ...

party.

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. This ended in 1990 because of the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

known as the "telephone coup". From 1991 to 1996 he was again Minister. 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.

References

1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Surinamese politicians Agriculture ministers of Suriname Economy ministers of Suriname Fisheries ministers of Suriname Housing ministers of Suriname Social affairs ministers of Suriname Deputy prime ministers of Suriname Party for National Unity and Solidarity politicians People from Commewijne District Surinamese people of Javanese descent Surinamese people of Sundanese descent {{suriname-politician-stub