On 12 May, historian Dr Eric R. Jagdew was a guest at the Eighties seminar organised by Radboud Institute for Culture and History (RICH). Jagdew has written a biography on Ramsewak Shankar, former president of Suriname (1988-1990) representing the Front for Democracy and Development.
Jagdew was welcomed by RICH director Maaike van Berkel. is presentation focused on Shankar's political career, which largely coincided with the turbulent 80s following the independence of Surinam in 1975. Through another research project, Jagdew came into contact with Shankar, who was happy to share his life story.
In his first year as president, Shankar had to deal with a country that was in dire financial weather. He also had to contend with the Dutcch Lubbers II cabinet, which adopted a very patronising attitude towards Suriname and, in the eyes of the Surinamese people, kept making ever-changing demands of the Suriname government. Central to Jagdew's presentation was the difference of opinions and ideas between Suriname and the Netherlands, for instance with regard to army leader Bouterse and rebel leader Brunswijk, who opposed each other during the Civil War (1986-1992). In December 1990, shortly after a visit to Ruud Lubbers, Shankar was deposed by army leader Desi Bouterse via the so-called 'telephone coup'.
CPG researcher Laurien Crump provided a response to Jagdew's contribution. She, too, addressed the way in which the Netherlands viewed the situation in Suriname. She characterised the Netherlands' approach to Shankar taking office as a 'cold shower'; the Netherlands was absent at the new leader's inauguration. The Netherlands was primarily focused on getting rid of Bouterse. Shankar's failure to cut ties with Bouterse therefore led mainly to incomprehension. There was little understanding for the fact that Shankar was in a tight spot because Bouterse was still army leader. It was striking that, despite the austerity measures from the Lubbers cabinets, 31 million euros made their way to rebel leader Brunswijk through back channels. The fall of the Lubbers II cabinet gave the Surinamese more room to move. At the same time, the new coalition Lubbers III (CDA-PvdA) was not welcomed with open arms by the Surinamese; Dutch politics were seen as 'one-size-fits-all'. The PvdA's strained relations with former president Arron in the 1970s were also to blame for this.