Suriname: Who is Chan Santokhi, Suriname's new President?

Suriname's new President Chan Santokhi (61)

President Chan Santokhi (61) born in Suriname, which is a former Dutch colony.

He studied at the police academy in the Netherlands. After his return to Suriname, he became a police inspector and in 1991 was named chief of police.

From 2005 to 2010 he served as minister of justice. He ran for the presidency in 2010 but lost to Bouterse.

Bouterse was re-elected to a second term in 2015 and was confident of winning a third consecutive term in the elections this May 2020, but it was Mr Santokhi's party which emerged victorious.

The Progressive Reform Party won 20 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, enough to form a coalition government with the General Liberation and Development Party. The latter is led by Ronnie Brunswijk, who will serve as vice-president.

President Chan Santokhi faces the difficult task of having to fix a totally mismanaged and bankrupted Suriname economy left behind by his corrupt predecessor, Desi Bouterse . Bouterse will also have to appear again in court soon, following his earlier 20 year jail sentencing for his part in the"December murders" in 1982, when he was the dictator of Suriname, and orchestrated the killing of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized his regime.

Almere-Digest

Suriname Elects a New President, Ending Desi Bouterse’s Long Rule - by Anatoly Kurmanaev and Harmen Boerboom

SURINAME

Suriname elected a new president on Monday, ending the long rule of Desi Bouterse, who dominated the small South American nation’s politics since its independence through intimidation and charisma.

The president, Chan Santokhi, a 61-year-old former police chief and leader of the opposition, was elected to the office by Suriname’s Congress following a landslide opposition victory in the May general elections.

In handing Mr. Santokhi a victory, the Surinamese punished Mr. Bouterse, a former military dictator turned populist champion, for a disastrous economic crisis and the widespread corruption in his government.

Note EU Digest: Finally Desi Bouterse, who dominated the small South American nation’s politics since its independence in 1975 from the Netherlands, at first by a coupe d'etat, where he ruled as a dictator, and later, as a populist president, is President no more .

On June 2017, during a military court case, the prosecutor Roy Elgrin read his conclusions, and demanded a 20-year prison sentence for the main suspect Desi Bouterse. for the murder of 15 prominent  young Surinamese men on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, who had criticized the military dictatorship of Bouterse then ruling Suriname. The cruel killing became known as the "December murders" "Dutch: December moorden) Bouterse his lawyer has deposited an appeal. Final ruling is pending.

In memoriam  - Suriname's heroes December Massacre

Bram Behr journalist   

Cyrill Daal, union leade

Kenneth Gonçalves, lawyer

Eddy Hoost, lawyer

André Kamperveen, journalist and businessman

Gerard Leckie, university teacher

Sugrim Oemrawsingh, scientist

Lesley Rahman, journalist

Surendre Rambocus, military

Harold Riedewald, lawyer

Jiwansingh Sheombar, military

Jozef Slagveer, journalist

Robby Sohansingh, businessman

Frank Wijngaarde, journalist (with Dutch citizenship)

 

Read more at:

Suriname Elects a New President, Ending Bouterse’s Long Rule - The New York Times