General elections were held in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

on 25 May 2005. The governing

New Front for Democracy and Development The New Front for Democracy and Development ( nl, Nieuw Front voor Democratie en Ontwikkeling) was a social-democratic political alliance in Suriname. At the legislative elections (25 May 2005), the alliance won 41.2% of the popular votes and 23 ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Ronald Venetiaan Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (born 18 June 1936) is a former politician who served as the 6th President of Suriname. Biography Venetiaan was born in Paramaribo. In 1955, Venetiaan left Suriname to study mathematics and physics at the University of Le ...

lost seats, remaining the largest party but failing to get a majority in the

National Assembly of Suriname The National Assembly (''De Nationale Assemblée'', ''The Assembly'', commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly has been situated in ...

. Despite this Venetiaan was re-elected as president after obtaining sufficient support to win a majority in the election for president.

Background

Suriname became independent from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1975 and in 1980 a coup brought the military to power. By 1982

Desi Bouterse DESI may refer to * Desorption electrospray ionization * Drug Efficacy Study Implementation * Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument See also * Desi (disambiguation) Desi or Deshi is a self-referential term used by South Asian people. Desi may ...

had become head of state and remained in effective control of Suriname until international pressure led to a return to democracy in 1991. The 1991 elections saw the opposition New Front for Democracy and Development win the election and Ronald Venetiaan became president for the first time. In the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

Venetiaan and the New Front were defeated by National Democratic Party (NDP) led by a former aide to Bouterse,

Jules Wijdenbosch Jules Albert Wijdenbosch (born 2 May 1941 in Paramaribo) is a Surinamese politician who was President of Suriname from 1996 to 2000. He was a member of the National Democratic Party, which held absolute power in Suriname during the 1980s. He was ...

. However soaring

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

meant a new election was called one year early in 2000. The New Front won a big victory in the 2000 elections winning 33 of the 51 seats, compared to 7 for the NDP, and 5 for the People's Alliance for Progress of Jules Wijdenbosch who had broken away from the NDP. As a result, Venetiaan became president for a second time.

Campaign

383 candidates spread over ten parties and alliances contested the election, with opinion polls and political analysts in the run up to the election showing that approximately 30% of voters were unsure of whom to vote for. The governing New Front was expected to lose seats in the election despite

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

Ronald Venetiaan being seen as the most popular candidate for president. The New Front campaigned on their economic record for the previous five years in power. Both the Netherlands, the former colonial ruler of Suriname, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

said that relations with Suriname would suffer if the main opposition party, the National Democratic Party, led by Desi Bouterse came back to power. Bouterse had been convicted in the Netherlands for

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

and was accused of involvement in the killing of 15 people in 1982 when he was the military ruler of Suriname. Bouterse, however denied the charges and accused the United States of interfering in the election. Bouterse was popular among many poorer and young voters who had not benefited from the economic changes made by Ronald Venetiaan's government. His campaign slogan was "Des for Pres". Two parties of international election monitors from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econo ...

(CARICOM) were sent to observe the election. The observers from CARICOM congratulated Suriname on the conduct of the election and described the behaviour of the people of Suriname as an example for the Caribbean. The OAS observers also described the election as having been peaceful and having taken place in a friendly atmosphere.

Results

No party or alliance won a majority of the seats in the election and none came close to getting the two-thirds of seats required to elect a new president. The New Front for Democracy and Development won 23 seats, a drop of 10 from the previous parliament, while the opposition National Democratic Party more than doubled their number of seats to 15. There was surprise at the performance of the new

A-Combination The A-Combination ( nl, A-Combinatie) was a political alliance in Suriname. History The A-Combinatie was formed in 2005 as an alliance of Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (BEP), the General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP) and Seeka, an ...

alliance which won 5 seats, the same number as the People's Alliance for Progress of former president Jules Wijdenbosch. Two political parties made allegations of fraud in the election but the Independent Election Authority did not find them to be justified.

Aftermath

Following the election the National Assembly had two months to elect a president who would then appoint a government. The New Front party reached an agreement at the beginning of June to bring the A Combination alliance into government giving them a majority in parliament but still short of the two-thirds required to elect a president. The leader of the National Democratic Party, Bouterse, did not stand in the presidential election after reaching an agreement with the People's Alliance for Progress to back Rabin Parmessar. In the first two rounds of the presidential election 27 members of the parliament voted for the New Front candidate, incumbent president Ronald Venetiaan, while 20 voted for Rabin Parmessar. As neither candidate received a two-thirds majority, the election was taken to the People’s Assembly. In the People’s Assembly, which was composed of members of parliament, provincial and district councils, a simple majority was required to be elected president. In the election on 3 August 2005 Venetiaan won 560 votes as against 315 for Parmessar and so was re-elected as president of Suriname.

References

External links

Full list of elected candidates
{{Surinamese elections Elections in Suriname

2005 in Suriname