Jennifer "Jenny" Simons, married Geerlings (born 5 September 1953 in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the 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 ...

) is a

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 ...

se politician. On 30 June 2010, she was elected as Chairperson of 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 ...

with 26 out of 50 votes. Simons is the second female chairman of the Surinamese Parliament. She was re-elected on 30 June 2015. She announced her retirement on 20 June 2020.

Biography

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

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

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...

. 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 be able 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 du ...

) 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 rep ...

in order to fight against the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. 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

Personal background

Family

On 29 June 1981, Simons married Glenn Geerlings. They have 3 children: Edward, Jonathan and Naomi. Simons is a

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...

References

External links

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