Suriname voters reject New Front coalition

by Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent

Friday, May 27, 2005

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Voters in Suriname have rejected the New Front coalition led by President Ronald Venetiaan, resulting in a loss of 10 of the previously held 33 seats in parliament. With 86.1 percent of the ballots counted, the big surprise in Wednesday’s elections, are newcomers the A-Combination, from the tribal maroons, with 4 seats.

The National Democratic Party (NDP) of former dictator Desi Bouterse has more than doubled from 7 to 15 seats. The People’s Alliance for Prosperity (VVV) of former president Jules Wijdenbosch won 6 seats. According to the preliminary results, voter turnout was 58.1 percent.

Aside from the New Front loss of the majority in the legislature, none of the contesting parties won the necessary two-thirds majority to elect a new president on their own. It is likely that the new head of state will be elected in the United People’s Assembly, a joint session of parliament, districts and regional councils.

The New Front lost seats in traditional strongholds in the capital Paramaribo, and the Nickerie, Brokopondo, Marowijne and Wanica districts, where the coalition had to give up 10 seats. The New Front leaders were not immediately available for comments, but the mood among other party officials was very depressed.

Although his party performed well in the polls, Bouterse expected more seats for his NDP. “But you have to bow your head for the will of the people,” he said when Caribbean Net News interviewed him at party headquarters in the early morning. Bouterse is surprised at the performance of the A-Combination as a newcomer, which snagged NDP’s seats in the Marowijne district. At this moment he won’t speculate about the formation of a new coalition. “When the results are final, we will look into the possibilities how to execute our aspiration in a new coalition,” he said.

In the run-up to the elections the New Front stated it would not cooperate with the NDP or VVV while, on the other hand, VVV stressed it will never cooperate with Bouterse to form a coalition.
Whether Bouterse will join forces with the A-Combination is still questionable, since one of the leaders of the latter is former rebel leader Ronny Brunswijk who, in the 1980s, led a bloody rebellion against the former army commander.

The final results of the polls will not be known for several days.

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