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News from Suriname as of
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Suriname elections set for May 2010
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| Published on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- President Ronald Venetiaan announced in parliament that general elections for a new legislature will be held in Suriname on May 25, 2010. The Head of State made the announcement during the budget presentation for the fiscal year 2010. Venetiaan, who is in his second consecutive five year term in office called for peaceful campaigns, orderly conducted polls and acceptance of the results as “mature democrats”.
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President Ronald Venetiaan upon arrival at the National Assembly to deliver the 2010 budget of his administration.
Photo by Ivan Cairo |
According to Venetiaan, his administration in the new fiscal year is being confronted with a deficit of nearly 1 billion Surinamese dollars (US$357.1 million). In 2010 revenues for the state are expected to be around SRD2.63 billion (US$939.3 million) while expenditures are expected to reach US$1.32 billion).
The head of state further noted that after several foreign debts are paid off the budget will still have a gap of US$333.9 million, approximately 11.3% of the country’s GDP. Some SRD1,6 billion (US$571.4 million) of the expenditures would be financed out of state coffers while the government will seek foreign financial assistance including loans to cover the remaining US$183.9 million.
During his unprecedented, extremely short budget presentation, Venetiaan touched on the global economic crisis and its impact on the Surinamese economy. While numerous countries were being affected by a recession, the Surinamese economy in 2009 remained relatively stable and continued to grow, while for 2010 a growth of at least 2 percent is predicted.
However the bauxite industry was impacted severly by the global downturn, which ultimately resulted in BHP-Billiton’s termination of all its operations in Suriname. Due to a fall in global oil prices the state-owned oil company Staatsolie had a significant drop in gross revenues for the first six months of 2009 in comparison with the same period in 2008. Revenues dropped by 48% the company disclosed last month in its semi-annual report.
While a recent opinion poll put the main opposition grouping led by former dictator Desi Bouterse in the driver’s seat for next year’s elections, Venetiaan’s Nieuw Front coalition is scrambling to catch up.
The opinion poll conducted in four major constituencies by the Institute for Demographic Research in Suriname (IDOS) indicated that Bouterse’s Mega Combination was poised to win 11 seats in parliament in these four districts, while the Nieuw Front coalition would secure 8 seats.
In the Paramaribo and Nickerie districts the opposition was a decisive winner with 32.4% and 33.3% of the votes, while the Nieuw Front coalition would get 16% and 22% respectively. Only in Commewijne the incumbent coalition would have secured an obvious win with 33.7% while Bouterse’s opposition would receive 17.8% of the votes.
The poll also revealed that a significant portion of the electorate has not decided yet for which party to vote or whether they will vote at all. | | | | Reads : 832 | | | |
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