PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC -President Chandrikapersad Santokhi says elections in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country will be held on Sunday, May 25, next year.
“Ahead of us lies an important year in which we prepare for the general, free, and secret elections. The elections will be held on Sunday, May 25, 2025. This will be a historic moment for Suriname, in which you, the people, will go to the polls under a renewed and fairer electoral system,” Santokhi said during his two-hour address to the National Assembly late Tuesday, in which he outlined the policies to be pursued by his coalition government in the coming months.
Santokhi told legislators that organizing the elections is a national responsibility and that “preparations for this have already been started.”
The elections will be the first under a new electoral system, which has moved from the district system to a national system. Under the old district system, seats were distributed based on the population of each district.
Electoral officials said that by switching to national proportionality, the votes of all citizens are treated equally throughout the country, regardless of where they live. They also said that the amendments to the Constitution were necessary to bring the electoral regulation into line with the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which considered certain articles of the electoral regulation to be in conflict with the Constitution and international treaties.
“Mr. Chairman, this subject has always been sensitive, and this unjust system has been maintained because of its many advantages. Historically, all factions within the National Assembly agreed on national proportionality. This gives all political parties, large and small, a fairer chance to be represented in Parliament,” Santokhi told the National Assembly.
Santokhi said that political parties with national proportionality are now encouraged to develop programs that appeal to the entire country rather than focusing on specific districts.
He said this promotes national unity and cohesion, as political parties must appeal to the entire electorate.
Santokhi said that a presidential monitoring team has been established to ensure integral monitoring of election activities and decision-making.
“This monitoring offers me, as president, the opportunity to have a total overview of the election organization’s progress and take action where necessary,” he added.
The new system allows for establishing the Independent Electoral Bureau of Suriname, the supervisory body for elections, and the Central Polling Station.
“We will do everything possible to ensure these elections are fair, free, and orderly. We will invite international observers to ensure our elections’ fair conduct so that our people’s voice is fully heard,” Santokhi added.
In the 2020 elections, no party won an outright majority in the 51-member National Assembly. Santokhi’s Progressive Reform Party (VHP) won 20 seats, four more than the then-ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), led by Desi Bouterse.
The VHP subsequently formed a four-party coalition. On 29 June 2020, the newly elected National Assembly elected Ronnie Brunswijk of the General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP) as its new Speaker.
He became the first Maroon to assume the post, and on July 15, the National Assembly elected Santokhi as the new President, with Brunswick as the Vice President.
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