General elections were held in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

on 25 May 2010. Nine entities contested the election, including several coalitions. Pre-election polls suggested a share of 41% of the vote going to the "Mega Combination" coalition that includes the National Democratic Party of former dictator

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...

. The ruling Nieuw Front (NF) had around 22.5% support. There were 324,490 people registered to vote in the election which would determine the holders of 51 parliament seats, 116 regional positions and 752 municipal positions.

Results

Preliminary results issued on 26 May 2010 showed the Mega Combination winning a plurality of 23 seats, up from 15 in the last election. The

New Front for Democracy and Development The New Front for Democracy and Development ( nl, Nieuw Front voor Democratie en Ontwikkeling) was a social-democratic political alliance in Suriname. At the legislative elections (25 May 2005), the alliance won 41.2% of the popular votes and 23 ...

alliance of incumbent President

Ronald Venetiaan Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (born 18 June 1936) is a former politician who served as the 6th President of Suriname. Biography Venetiaan was born in Paramaribo. In 1955, Venetiaan left Suriname to study mathematics and physics at the University of Lei ...

(who had stated before the election that he would not seek another term) was said to have won 14 seats. Venetiaan ruled out working together with the NDP as long as it was led by Bouterse. In the upcoming indirect

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

in July 2010, a two-thirds majority will be required to elect the next president.

Organisation of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

election observers reported a peaceful election with no irregularities. Bouterse had not stated if he will seek to return to the presidency. Dutch Foreign Minister

Maxime Verhagen Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (; born 14 September 1956) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and historian. Verhagen studied Contemporary history at the Leiden University obtaining a Master of Arts degre ...

said that the Dutch government would respect the will of the voters of Suriname, despite Bouterse having been sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Dutch court for drug dealing. An

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

arrest warrant has been issued for him, but Suriname does not

extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

its citizens.

Aftermath

The NDP successfully concluded a coalition deal with Bouterse's former opponents in the civil war, the A Combinatie, giving him a majority in parliament, but not the two-thirds majority required to elect the president. Negotiations with the People's Alliance to attain the necessary supermajority reportedly failed after the People's Alliance raised excessive demands. The NDP fell out with the A Combinatie over the number of cabinet posts, however, and subsequently, the New Front (led by the

National Party of Suriname The National Party of Suriname ( nl, Nationale Partij Suriname, NPS) is a social democratic political party in Suriname, founded in 1946, and since June 2012 led by Gregory Rusland. For a long time it was the largest ruling party in the country, ...

) formed a coalition deal with the A Combinatie and the People's Alliance, giving them 27 seats in parliament, enough to form the government, but too few to elect the president. It was seen as a possibility that Bouterse might be elected in the final round of the presidential election (when it goes to the People's Assembly, where the NDP has a majority. In a surprise development, Jennifer Geerlings-Simons from the NDP was elected Chairwoman of the House on 30 June 2010 with 26 to 24 votes, even though the anti-NDP parties had a majority in parliament. The

NPS NPS may refer to: Organizations * National Park Service, U.S. * National Pension System, India * National Pension Service, Korea * National Phobics Society, UK charity * National Piers Society, UK charity * National Poetry Slam, competition * N ...

's Ruth Wijdenbosch was elected Vice Chairwoman with 25 to 24 votes. In the run-up to the presidential election on 19 July 2010, Bouterse convinced the A Combinatie to join forces with him, giving him a 30-seat majority; immediately before the election, he succeeded in getting the People's Alliance to join him, giving him the votes required to become president.

References

{{Surinamese elections Elections in Suriname

2010 in Suriname Election and referendum articles with incomplete results