Elections were held in November 1987, with the 3-party anti-Bouterse coalition Front For Democracy and Development winning 40 out 51 seats, and Dutch aid was resumed the following year. Friction, however, soon developed between Bouterse and Assembly President Ramsewak Shankar. Subsequetly Shankar was ousted in a coup (known as the 'Telephone Coup') led by Bouterse on 24th December 1990. A military backed government was then installed, with Johann Kraag (NPS) as President.

Elections were held again on 25th May 1991. Ronald Venetiaan's New Front coalition (the old three parties combined with the Surinamese Labour Party) won 30 seats, Bouterse's National Democratic Party won 12 and the Democratic Alternative (a multi-ethnic party favouring closer links with the Netherlands) won 9 seats. 30 seats not being enough to appoint a president, an Assembly vote was organised, which was won by Venetiaan. In August 1992 a peace treaty was signed with the Jungle Commando, bringing an end to the Maroon rebellion.

Meanwhile the economy was facing serious difficulties owing to a fall in world prices for aluminium and large scale deficits. A Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was drawn up in 1992, followed by the Multi-Year Development Programme in 1994. Despite the introduction of floating rates and a limit of imports the situation failed to considerably improve. This, and a number of corruption scandals, led to a significant slump in the popularity of Venetiaan's New Front.

Venetiaan's New Front won the elections held on 23rd May 1996 by a slight majority. As in 1991, this was not enough for Venetiaan to be made president. Many New Front members defected to the NDP and other parties. The subsequent secret ballot secured the presidency for Jules Wijdenbosch, a former vice-president in the Bouterse era, who set about forming a coaltion of the NDP and five other parties. Bouterse was accommodated in 1997 when the post of Councillor of State was created for him. Wijdenbosch dismissed him in April 1999 however. Meanwhile the Dutch in July convicted Bouterse in absentia for drug trafficking spanning a number of years. His son, Dino Bouterse, was later convicted on similar charges in 2005.

Widespread strikes occurred in 1999 over the government's handling of the economy, with strikers calling for early elections. As a result Wijdenbosch's coalition collapsed and he lost lost a vote of confidence in June 1999. The elections, scheduled for 2001, were brought forward to 25th May 2000. The results saw Wijdenbosch gain 9% of the vote, whilst Venetiaan won with 47%. Meanwhile, in 2000, relations between Suriname and Guyana soured over disputes about the country's maritime boundary. It is thought the area could be rich in oil.

In August 2001, the Dutch provided a triple A state guarantee to enable the Surinamese government to receive a 10-year loan from the Dutch Development Bank (NTO) to the amount of Euro 137.7 million (U.S.$125 million). The loan has an interest rate of 5.18% per year and was used to consolidate floating government debts. U.S.$32 million of the loan was used to pay off foreign loans, which had been taken under unfavorable conditions by the Wijdenbosch government. The remaining 93 million of the loan was used to pay off debts at the Central Bank of Suriname. This enabled the Central Bank to strengthen its foreign currency position according to the IMF standards to the equivalency of 3 months of imports. To further help the economy the Surinamese guilder was replaced with the Surinamese dollar in 2004.

In the May 2005 elections Venetiaan won another term in office.

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