Sawt Falasteen - 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.

The former Dutch colony of 600,000 inhabitants, one of the poorest countries in South America, is hoping that an oil boom will bring prosperity.

T.Khatib--SF-PST