PARAMARIBO - Now that all of the nationwide votes have been counted, filed and published the election results are officially in. The National Democratic Party (NDP) and its partners will form the new coalition as the ...
NDP has been declared as the winner of the general elections of May 2025. The Progressive Reform Party (VHP) has missed its chance to remain in power. The only thing that must still happen is for the elt ion results to be declared binding. The VHP must make preparations to move to the opposition unless sections of the new coalition opt to betray the political partners which unfortunately is not uncommon in the political arena in Suriname.
Back in 2010 Paul Somohardjo chairman of Pertjajah Luhur was supposed to get the chairman’s gavel again but two members of the then coalition broke ranks and voted for Jennifer
Geerlings-Simons (NDP). The then coalition screamed that two MPs had been bribed to betray their party. The candidate of the then coalition, MP Ruth Wijdenbosch (NPS), was elected as deputy chairwoman. This resulted in a unique situation where the chairwoman was part of the new coalition and the deputy chairwoman part of the new opposition. The crack in the then V7 bloc widened when the PL and ABOP the political alliance to join the NDP in order to become part of the new coalition. Many eyes are now on parliament where the new chairperson must be elected. The question on the minds of many people is if history wil repeat itself.
The VHP which is theoretically already the only party that will form the new opposition in parliament has been mentioned as the party that will try to obtain the votes of the candidates from other parties that must be sworn in as the new MPs. It has strongly denied the accusations and claimed that the new coalition is resorting to such tactics.
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, the chairwoman of the NDP and the president elect of the new coalition, currently does not worry about the possibility that history could repeat itself. She made it clear that President Chandrikapersad
Santokhi who is also the chairman of the VHP must step down. “There is no problem. But if he is not part of the government, he must accept his role in the new opposition and play by the rules,” said Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.
