PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC—Suriname heads to the polls on May 25. Voters in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with persistent economic woes, political uncertainty, and a rare opportunity to reshape the regional narrative on gender and leadership.
This election doesn’t just hold domestic significance; it could also position Suriname as a trailblazer in the CARICOM by possibly electing its first female head of state, joining the incumbent ranks of Barbados’s Mia Mottley and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Persad-Bissessar, as female leaders of governments. Portia Simpson-Miller became Jamaica’s first female prime minister when she swept into power in 2006.
The race remains tight between Suriname’s two dominant political parties, the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the Progressive Reform Party (VHP). Recent polling indicates neither is likely to secure an outright majority, setting the stage for complex coalition negotiations after the vote.
Under Suriname’s indirect electoral system, the president is elected by the 51-member National Assembly with a two-thirds majority. If that fails, the process moves to the broader United People’s Assembly (VVV), which includes over 900 members and requires only a simple majority.
This high-stakes political climate coincides with a growing push for gender equity.
In June 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), launched the Excellence, Women First initiative, an ambitious campaign to boost women’s political participation.
Promoted with the hashtag #May25ThePresidentIsFemale, the campaign urges parties to place women in electable positions and aims to inspire the electorate to envision female leadership at the nation’s helm.
Karin Refos, lead communications consultant for the campaign, sees this election as a critical moment.
“It is high time for a female president in Suriname,” she said, remaining neutral on individual candidates.
Refos, known for her earlier campaigns that successfully increased women’s representation in 2010 and 2015, hopes this year’s effort will reverse the setback seen in 2020 when female representation declined.
Her benchmark forsuccess? At least 45 percent of women in the new government and, ideally, a woman as president, vice president, or Speaker of Parliament. Encouragingly, over 40 percent of the candidates in this election are women, with major parties placing multiple female contenders in top list positions.
Two women have emerged as potential presidential nominees among those contenders: Jennifer Geerlings-Simons of the NDP and Krishna Mathoera of the VHP.
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, a veteran politician and chair of the NDP, has a formidable résumé. Elected to parliament on five consecutive terms since 2000, she also served as Speaker of the National Assembly for a decade. Given the NDP’s tradition of nominating its party leader as presidential candidate, Geerlings-Simons is seen as the most likely female frontrunner if the NDP can lead a coalition.
She has laid out a bold vision for Suriname’s economic overhaul, one focused on reducing inequality and strengthening sectors such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, production, and tourism.
She has stated, “The economy must serve the people, not the other way around,” signaling a rejection of elitist economic models that concentrate wealth.
For her part, Krishna Mathoera, former police commissioner and current Minister of Defense, presents a different profile.
Her political career spans just over a decade, and while she brings executive experience and a background in law enforcement, her road to the presidency is steeper. Mathoera recently declared her presidential ambition, effectively challenging incumbent President Chan Santokhi, her party leader, for the VHP nomination.
Her platform centers on transparency and ethical governance, though her positioning within the current administration, often criticized for perceived lapses in integrity and economic management, may complicate her appeal.
Moreover, operating under Santokhi’s political shadow has left her specific policy agenda less visible than Geerlings-Simons’s.
Whether or not a woman ascends to the presidency depends on coalition arithmetic. The party that succeeds in forming a majority within the National Assembly or through the VVV will have the power to nominate the next president.
If the NDP leads that coalition, Geerlings-Simons will likely be their nominee. Mathoera, on the other hand, would first need to win the VHP’s internal contest against Santokhi before even reaching the national stage.
Beyond Suriname’s borders, the outcome could send a powerful message across CARICOM, where female heads of government remain rare. The Excellence, Women First campaign taps into this moment not just to promote female candidacies but also to reset expectations about what leadership can look like in the region.
As the country approaches election day, the stakes are not only about economic recovery and political stability but also representation, visibility, and progress. Whether Suriname emerges from these elections with a female president or not, the groundwork being laid today could shape the future of political leadership for generations to come.
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