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News > Suriname

Suriname's Electoral Body Confirms Desi Bouterse's Defeat

  • Bouterse led the military junta in Suriname in 1980 after the

    Bouterse led the military junta in Suriname in 1980 after the "Sergeants' Coup," which overthrew the government of Henck Arron. | Photo: EFE

Published 17 June 2020
Opinion

Former police commissioner and justice minister of the Progressive Reform Party Chan Santokhi won a majority of votes.

Surinamese President Desi Bouterse lost last month’s national election, the country’s electoral authority said Tuesday after three weeks of verifying the vote.

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Former police commissioner and justice minister of the Progressive Reform Party Chan Santokhi won a majority of votes and 20 seats in the 51-seat National Assembly in the May 25 election, ahead of Bouterse’s 16 seats.

Santokhi says he will form a government with three other parties. The new National Assembly will be sworn in on June 29 and is expected to elect him as the new president.

Bouterse’s National Democratic Party lost after a court in November sentenced him to 20 years in prison for ordering the execution of 15 adversaries in the former Dutch colony who had spoken out against his seizure of power in a February 1980 coup.

He has appealed the conviction and the court is to reconvene on June 30.

Bouterse led the military junta in Suriname in 1980 after the "Sergeants' Coup," which overthrew the government of Henck Arron. He became president of the country in 2010 and was re-elected five years later.

After his rise to power, the country experienced a resurgence in labor rights and authority of union leaders.

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