Henck Arron
Henck Arron | |
|---|---|
 Henck Arron in 1988 | |
| Prime Minister of Suriname | |
| In office 24 December 1973 – 25 February 1980 | |
| Monarch | Queen Juliana (1973-1975) |
| President | Johan Ferrier (1975–1980) |
| Governor | Johan Ferrier (1975-1980) |
| Preceded by | Jules Sedney |
| Succeeded by | Henk Chin A Sen |
| 1st Vice President of Suriname | |
| In office 25 January 1988 – 24 December 1990 | |
| President | Ramsewak Shankar |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Jules Wijdenbosch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 25, 1936 Paramaribo, Suriname |
| Died | December 4, 2000 (aged 64) Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands |
| Political party | National Party of Suriname (NPS) |
Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence, from 24 December 1973 to 25 February 1980, when he was overthrown in a coup d'état.
Biography
Arron was born in Paramaribo. He completed high school in 1956, and moved to the Netherlands for a training in banking. Arron worked several years at an Amsterdam bank. Then he returned to Suriname, where he worked in the financial system. In late 1963, he became deputy director of the People's Credit Bank.
In 1961, Arron became a member of the National Party of Suriname (NPS), the main Creole party. In 1970, Arron became the leader of the NPS. In 1973, Arron created a coalition, which included the pro-independence PNR party, that won that year's general election. In February 1974, Arron announced that Suriname would be seeking independence before the end of 1975. This came as a surprise because within Arron's own party there was no majority in favour of independence.[1]
Suriname was granted independence by the Netherlands on 25 November 1975. However, Surinamese politics soon degenerated into ethnic polarisation and corruption with the NPS using Dutch aid money for partisan purposes. Its leaders were accused of fraud in the 1977 elections, in which Arron won a further term, and the discontent was such that a large chunk of the population fled to the Netherlands, joining an already significant Surinamese community there. In 1980, Arron was accused of corruption and overthrown and jailed by the military led by Dési Bouterse, which, against the advice of the Dutch government, he had created. He bore the ill-treatment and humiliation with courage; the charges did not stick, he was released in 1981, and, a year later, became managing director of the Surinamese People's Credit Bank.[2]
Later in his life he served as Vice President of Suriname (and therefore Chairman of the Council of Ministers) from 26 January 1988 to 24 December 1990. His government was again overthrown in a coup by the military.
In December 2000, Arron was invited to the Netherlands to talk about 25 years of independence of Suriname. On the evening of December 4, he died as a result of cardiac arrest in his hotel room.
References
- ^ van Amersfoort, Hans (October 2011). "How the Dutch government stimulated unwanted immigration from Suriname". IMI Working Papers, University of Oxford, p. 11.
- ^ Obituary "The Guardian", 24 January 2001.
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