…as Surinamese vote to elect new government next Monday

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, May 20, CMC – A four-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Election Observer Mission has arrived here ahead of next Monday’s general election in which voters will elect a new government in the Dutch-speaking country.

Supervisor of Elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dora James, is heading the mission that will meet with the electoral officials, leaders of political parties and other stakeholders and will monitor the electoral process including the opening of the poll, the voting process, the closing of the poll and the counting of the ballots.

“For CARICOM, election observation serves as a platform to support existing democratic traditions within the Caribbean Community as part of its wider policy of supporting democracy and good governance,” the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said in a statement.

President Desi Bouterse is leading his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) into Monday’s general election. In the 2015 poll, the party won 27 of the 51 seats and 80 per cent of the votes cast. But political observers say the 74-year-old Bouterse, faces a daunting re-election battle. They note that apart from the effect the coronavirus (COVID19) has had on the CARICOM country’s economy, a scandal at the central bank has shaken confidence in the financial system.

Further, Bouterse has appealed a 20-year jail term imposed by a Court here last November 2019 following the December 1982 murders of 15 political opponents. Seventeen parties have registered to run against the NDP, but unlike 2015 when some of the opposition parties formed coalitions, this is not the case this time around. “The tribal electorate also seems to suggest that on election day, traditional voting behaviour patterns may stay the course and work in Bouterse’s NDP’s favour,” said one political analyst, adding that with no coalition ahead of the voting “that would give the NDP an advantage, because the NDP is the largest political party”.

Of the 17 opposition parties, the main challengers have been identified as the Progressive Reform Party (VHP) the National Party of Suriname (NPS), Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (BEP), and Pertjajah Luhur. The political observers note that each of these parties has some core ethnic group to which they can appeal. For example, the VHP has a strong following in the Indo-Surinamese community, while the National Party, which formed the base when President Ronald Venetiaan served as head of state from 1991 to 1996 and then 2000 to 2010.

But it won only two seats in 2015, when the V7 coalition of six parties led by former justice minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi secured 17 seats. Five of the other seats had gone to the Alternative Combination, while the remaining two seats went to the Party for Democracy and Development in Unity (DOE) and Progressive Worker and Farmers Union (PALU). The VHP has put out a reconstruction plan aimed at reforming the country’s health care system, the government’s management of the country’s natural resources, and strengthening the rule of law.

Voter turnout, trust in leadership, capacity to resolve economic issues and the management of the potential energy revenue, are among the main factors being debated here ahead of the polls. The government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for it to make resources available to persons in need with very little accountability. “The poverty alleviation seen through social programmes makes it possible for strategic outreach programmes to influence undecided voters,” one analyst said.

The independent Voting Bureau (OKB) is urging voters to cast ballots on Monday amid fears that some may want to stay away because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authorities are expected to announce the measures that will guide voting on Monday to prevent or minimise the risk of possible contamination. So far, only the protective measures that will apply in the polling stations have been announced. OKB chairman Jennifer van Dijk-Silos told a news conference it is necessary for voters to know that they can vote in a safe environment.

She wants also the voters list, which contains 383,000 names to be properly scrutinised adding that she was pleased observer teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) will be here for the polls. The OAS team is due on Thursday on a charter flight from Washington and will be placed in quarantine for two days. Interior Minister Mike Noersalim said that the international observers will have access to all polling stations and other locations related to the elections. In addition to OAS and CARICOM, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela and France will have observers through their embassies in Paramaribo.
India and Indonesia have also asked to be accredited, but the European Union, the Carter Center and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, which were also invited, have cancelled. The estimated 623 polling stations will open at 7:00 am (local time) and will close 12 hours later.