Willy Soemita

Willy Soemita
Deputy Vice President of Suriname
In office 25 January 1988 – 24 December 1990
President	Ramsewak Shankar
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	position abolished
Minister of Social Affairs and Housing
In office 25 January 1988 – 24 December 1990
President	Ramsewak Shankar
Preceded by	Ewald Grep
Succeeded by	René Kaaiman
In office 16 September 1991 – 15 September 1996
President	Ronald Venetiaan
Preceded by	René Kaaiman
Succeeded by	Soewarto Moestadja
Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
In office 24 December 1973 – 28 December 1977
Prime Minister	Henck Arron
Preceded by	Radjnarain Nannan Panday
Succeeded by	Cornelis Ardjosemito
Personal details
Born	William Soemita (1936-03-01)1 March 1936 Commewijne, Suriname
Died	23 September 2022(2022-09-23) (aged 86) Suriname
Political party	Party for National Unity and Solidarity

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