Latest news with #SurinameElection
Washington Post
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Suriname's parliament elects the country's first female president amid economic turmoil
PARAMARIBO, Suriname — Suriname 's parliament Sunday elected physician Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as the troubled country's first female president. The South American country's National Assembly chooses the president by a two-thirds vote. Geerlings-Simons, a congresswoman, ran unopposed after her party formed a coalition aimed at ousting the country's current leader following a May election with no clear winner.
France 24
06-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons becomes Suriname's first woman president
The 71-year-old former opposition leader was left the sole candidate for president after her rivals decided on Thursday not to nominate anyone to lead the small country on South America's northern coast. Geerlings-Simons' National Democratic Party (NDP) won 18 of the 51 seats in congress, more than those of the centrist VHP party of outgoing president Chan Santokhi. The NDP had already entered into an agreement with five other parties with which it jointly holds 34 seats in parliament. The NDP was founded by former coup leader and autocrat-turned-elected-president Desi Bouterse, who died in hiding in December 2024. Santokhi's party had also hoped to form a coalition to remain in power, but said in a statement that it had decided not to oppose Geerlings-Simons' election. Suriname, a diverse country made up of descendants of people from India, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands, Indigenous groups and African slaves, marks its 50th anniversary of independence from the Dutch throne this November. In recent years, it has looked increasingly toward China as a political ally and trading partner and, in 2019, became one of the first Latin American countries to join the Asian giant's Belt and Road infrastructure drive.
Bloomberg
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Election Deadlock Puts Suriname's Oil Bonanza in Play
Suriname's political future hangs in the balance after the two main parties were virtually tied in Sunday's election, triggering intense coalition talks to determine who will get to manage the upcoming oil bonanza. Final results show the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) clinching 18 seats, narrowly edging out the ruling Progressive Reform Party (VHP), which secured 17, according to the official count.
