FIGHT TO LEAD SURINAME

If you have not previously paid any attention to the daily politics of Suriname, perhaps now would be the perfect time with the 2025 general elections season slowly kicking into gear.

In just under two years from this month, Surinamese will vote for one of two multiracial mega coalition groups to run the Dutch-speaking CARICOM country of about 600,000.

The first involves the incumbent Chan Santokhi administration consisting of the Hindustani-dominated VHP party, individually with 20 of the 51 parliamentary seats. In bed with the VHP and in government is the ABOP- PL combination with 10 seats. ABOP is supported largely by Surinamese Maroons, descendants of rebellious slaves who had successfully fought Dutch slavery, while PL draws much of its support from Surinamese of Javanese-Indonesian extraction. A third group, the NPS supported by middle class and professional Surinamese, recently abandoned Santokhi’s government quarreling about political incompetence, taking away the three seats it won in the May 2020 general elections. The other major group in opposition is the NDP of former military strongman Desi Bouterse. His party, which lost power in 2020, has 16 seats.

The NPS’ departure is not known to have done anything much to undermine incumbency but critics say it has helped to point locals to the fact that the coalition is politically shaky, fighting against a strong tide to contain mounting inflation, a daily declining currency against the US and to keep protestors off of the streets.

Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse, right, arrives to his inauguration accompanied by his former political enemy Ronnie Brunswijk, leader of the Maroons or descendants of runaway African slaves, in Paramaribo, Suriname, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 in this file photo. AP Photo/Andres Leighton, file

Just last week, ABOP and PL staged a massive rally in Paramaribo, the capital, to both celebrate the 62nd birthday of founder and current Vice-President Ronnie Brunswijk and to officially launch the grouping 2025 campaign.

And if there were any doubts about the level of political rivalry among the governing parties, Brunswijk and PL Leader Paul Somohardjio made it clear that they have every intention of displacing Santokhi, a former police chief and justice minister, as president in 2025. They argue that almost every other major race group has produced a president for Suriname. The time for a Maroon is now.

Somoharldjio says his political partner will receive a 65th birthday gift in 2025 by deposing Santokhi, even though they are all from the same coalition. The party with the most seats usually gets the presidency

‘“I never thought I would be vice president. A boy from the interior, I would never have dared to hope for this,” he told local journalists at the rally. For his part, Somohardjio says that Brunswijk is qualified and ready to be president. “We are going to determine who we bring in and who we don’t. This collaboration must yield at least 26 marbles,” he said, meaning the combination would need a majority of 26 of the 51 seats to lead the government and take the presidency from Santokhi.

The VHP and Bouterse’s NDP have also held major rallies in the city and other districts in recent weeks, signaling the unofficial start of the 2025 elections season even as the economy continues its free fall and as the country tries to recover from street protests and looting mid last month.

But the unapologetic attempt to snatch the presidency by the ABOP-PL combination is being closely monitored in Suriname. Respected columnist Wilfred Leeuwin said the country has two governments and two presidents.

“We can agree that the promised unity of government and policy, announced by the current government at the beginning of its term, has never materialized. In fact, it is all about the fact that we are dealing with at least two governments and therefore two heads of government, in the persons of Brunswijk and Santokhi. From a constitutional point of view, it may be concluded that Brunswijk, who is in fact the chief administrator of the government, is walking very far off his feet,” he said.