Jennifer Geerlings-Simons ( Simons; born 5 September 1953) is a

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 ...

se politician. She served as Chairwoman of 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 ...

between 2010 and 2020, becoming the second female chairman of the Surinamese Parliament. In 2024, she became the leader of the National Democratic Party.

Biography

Simons was first elected as a member of the National Assembly in 1996, representing the district of

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

. She served as one of the vice-chairpersons of the National Democratic Party, which was founded by

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 ...

. She was leader of the parliamentary fraction from 2000 until 2006. In April 2012, Simons was accused by the opposition in the parliament of dictatorial behaviour because of her decision to forbid members of the parliament from referring to the

amnesty law An amnesty law is any legislative, constitutional or executive arrangement that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for the crimes that they committed. More speci ...

of April 2012 during a debate on the anti-stalking law. On 8 April 2020, the Law Exceptional Condition COVID-19 (

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

) has been approved by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in order to fight against the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The State of Emergency will go into effect for three months unless the National Assembly one-off extends the duration for another three months. Simons was appointed to lead the Parliamentary COVID-19 Crisis Management Team. On 20 June 2020, Simons announced her retirement from politics. She had been elected in the

2020 Surinamese general election General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2020. The elections occurred concurrently with an economic crisis in Suriname, as well as the COVID-19 crisis. Electoral system The 51 seats in the National Assembly are elected using party-list ...

, but has decided not to take her seat. Stephen Tsang who was on 6th place on the NDP list, is now eligible for the

. On 13 July 2024, she succeeded Dési Bouterse as the leader of the National Democratic Party.

Personal life

In 1981, Simons married Glenn Geerlings. They have 3 children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geerlings-Simons, Jennifer 1953 births 20th-century Surinamese women politicians 20th-century Surinamese politicians 21st-century Surinamese women politicians 21st-century Surinamese politicians Living people Speakers of the National Assembly (Suriname) Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) National Democratic Party (Suriname) politicians Politicians from Paramaribo Anton de Kom University of Suriname alumni