Tweet

The President of Suriname, Desi Bouterse, has won the parliamentary elections there in a massive landslide. His NDP won an amazing 80% of all votes counted and 27 of the 51 parliamentary seats.
It is unique in the history of Suriname that a single party gets a majority. Until this Election no single party has been able to hold a majority of seats and this a coalition of parties was always necessary to form the government.
With a majority of seats and over 80% of Votes Cast Bouterse would possibly be able to and likely choose to govern alone, although it is not yet certain that he will actually do it. Bouterse needed a two-thirds majority in parliament to be re-elected as president. However that is not always necessary as the president can also be decided or elected by the People’s Assembly, an umbrella meeting of parliamentarians.
In the party center of South Paramaribo a huge crowd erupted into a big festival of celebrations . Thousands of supporters celebrated the victory. Several ministers and other senior party members joined the celebration. Bouterse himself was not present, later in the day the 69-year-old head of state at his headquarters is expected to address his supporters and the nation.
The opposition, meanwhile, has admitted dissapointment with the outcome. Opposition leader Chandrikapersad Santokhi said on state television that the outcome is below expectations. The politician had counted on at least 25 seats in parliament.

The Former Army Chief Bouterse was rewarded for his social policies. The popularity of the controversial politician , convicted drug trafficker, murder suspect – increased over the past five years as he introduced and enhanced many social policies such as pensions and child benefit, an increase in minimum wage and the construction of hundreds of social housing.