Birth Pangs of a Polyglot State

After four days of debate that often lasted until dawn, the parliament of the world's newest, and 156th, sovereign state unanimously approved a constitution. The staid, protocol-conscious assembly in Surinam's capital of Paramaribo erupted in cheers. Outside, a crowd waiting for the vote roared its approval and set off celebratory firecrackers. As the parliamentarians stood to sing the national anthem, a Creole woman placed garlands of ribbons around the neck of Prime Minister Henck Arron and Opposition Leader Jaggernath Lachmon, head of the Hindustani Vatan Hitkarie (Progressive Reform) party. Close to tears, the two longtime political opponents embraced.

There is serious question, though, as to how long the euphoria will last. Surinam, which formally becomes independent at midnight this Tuesday, is a polyglot* New England-size former Dutch colony on South America's humid equatorial coast, with some exotic and bitter divisions. The new nation's largest single racial group -129,500 East Indians known locally as Hindustanis -almost universally opposed independence. They feared political and economic repression by the 108,500 Creoles (blacks and mulattoes), most of whom belong to leftist-influenced parties supporting Prime Minister Arron. Joining forces with Surinam's 63,000 Javanese, the Creoles took control of the preindependence assembly in 1973 elections. The state's 40,000 Bush Negroes -descendants of escaped slaves who live tribally in Surinam's jungles -have always preferred dealing directly with the Dutch, and distrust the Creoles. Another ethnic group consists of 10,000 largely apolitical indigenous Indians.

Even some Creoles and their Javanese allies are wary about Surinam's future. Arron's new government needs to work out an accommodation with the Hindustanis, who traditionally ran most of the country's commerce and supplied most of its doctors and teachers. Last week's debate over the constitution was forced by nervous Hindustanis who demanded -and eventually got -promises of such safeguards as an army composed of all ethnic groups and elections within three months. "If the government obeys it, we have a very democratic constitution here," said Opposition Leader Lachmon. "If it is obeyed, it can be one of the best constitutions in the world. If it is not, I hate to predict what might happen."

Golden Handshake. The most enthusiastic advocates of independence have been the Dutch, who governed Surinam as a colony for more than 300 years. The Hague government is rapidly trying to unload the vestiges of its old colonial empire -an anachronistic embarrassment. Beyond that, The Netherlands has grown tired of the strife that has racked Surinam since the Hindustanis lost the 1973 elections. A tide of mostly Hindustani immigrants has swollen The Netherlands' Surinamese population from 60,000 to 140,000; they have come to take advantage of the citizenship -not to mention the lavish welfare system -that the Dutch offer all their colonial subjects. At first the newcomers were warmly welcome. But the tolerant Dutch are troubled by Surinamese ghettoes growing up in their neat towns. Many of the immigrants are without jobs and have no marketable skills; some have turned to crime.

Anxious to stanch the flow of immigrants, the government of Prime Minister Joop den Uyl has offered the Surinamese what U.S. Consul-General Robert Flanegin calls "the biggest golden handshake any colonialist power has ever conferred on a former colony." Surinam will get $1.7 billion in aid over the next 10 to 15 years. At the same time, independence will mean giving up the right to unlimited immigration to The Netherlands. Last week in languid Paramaribo, one hit song was a mournful ballad called There Is No Room for Surinamese in Holland Any More.

If so many talented Hindustanis had not left the country, the aid would not be needed quite so critically. Surinam is one of the world's leading exporters of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is refined. Already determined reserves are more than 500 million tons, and untold additional tonnage is believed to exist beneath unexplored jungle. Surinam provides about one-fifth of U.S. bauxite needs. Meanwhile, the new nation has other markets and friends. Venezuela will soon give oil to Surinam in exchange for bauxite, and Brazil may build a highway through the jungle to gain another port on the Atlantic.

Manpower Hemorrhage. Nonetheless, the emigration of talent and labor hurts. Last week a diplomat's wife complained that there was only one plumber left in Paramaribo. There were hundreds of doctors, teachers and merchants among the emigrants, and the manpower hemorrhage included not only professionals but critically important farm workers as well. Surinam, a nation that imports more than 50% of its foodstuffs, must now also import farm workers to help harvest its sugar cane crops.

* Locally used languages include Dutch, French, Hindi, English, Javanese, Chinese and Taki-Taki, an English-based patois made up of many tongues.

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