An indirect presidential election was held in
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
on 19 July 2010 following the
legislative election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
. If the
National Assembly of Suriname
The National Assembly (, commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislature, legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly has been situated in the former Buiten-Sociëteit Het ...
twice failed to elect a new president with a two-thirds majority, the election would go to the
People's Assembly of Suriname, composed of members of parliament, district and provincial councils, where a simple majority would have sufficed.
A first vote was expected on 8 July 2010, but only procedural issues were discussed at the meeting; the election was set for 19 July 2010 on the following day.
Shortly before the election, former dictator
Dési Bouterse
Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...
succeeded in establishing a coalition with the
A Combinatie and the People's Alliance, giving him the votes required for the presidential election. As expected, he gained 36 votes
against
Chan Santokhi
Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (; , ; born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president o ...
's 13 votes; he was sworn in on 12 August 2010.
References
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
2010 elections in South America
2010 in Suriname
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