 |
| Suriname's new President Chan Santokhi (61) |
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
