After the
Batavian Republic took over the
Colony of Suriname from the
Society of Suriname in 1795, the Dutch government issued various government regulations for Suriname (
Dutch:
Regeringsreglement voor Suriname), establishing the government of the colony. In 1865, a new government regulation replaced the previous regulation of 1832, which theoretically gave Suriname some limited self-rule. The colonial elite was given the right to elect a Colonial Council (Dutch:
Koloniale Raad) which would co-govern the colony together with the Governor-General appointed by the
Dutch crown. Among others, the Colonial Council was allowed to decide over the colony's budget, which was subject to approval by the Dutch crown, but which did not see any involvement of Dutch parliament. The new constitution took effect in July 1948. After the
Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was proclaimed on 15 December 1954, Suriname ceased to be an overseas possession of the Netherlands, and rather became a
constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which the
Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and the Netherlands itself cooperated on a basis of equality. A new Basic Law that reflected the new constitutional arrangements was adopted by the Estates of Suriname in 1955. The first constitution of independent Suriname was adopted in 1975, and was modeled after the
Constitution of the Netherlands. It was suspended after the
1980 Surinamese coup d'état and was replaced by the current constitution after being approved in
a referendum held on 30 September 1987. ==References==