Medical physician and former parliamentary speaker Jennifer Simons Geerling was sworn in because the president of Suriname on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. She is the primary feminine to take action and the fourth lady head of presidency presently in control of a Caribbean Neighborhood nation.
Simons,71, took the oath of workplace at noon practically two months after her then-main opposition Nationwide Democratic Social gathering (NDP) received a majority of 18 of the 51 parliamentary seats, making it the most important single occasion within the Dutch-speaking republic of simply over 600,000. Elections have been held on Might 25.
She has turn out to be president as a result of she put collectively a six-party, multi-racial coalition that gave the grouping 34 of the 51, or two-thirds of the seats wanted to instantly elect a president. She now joins Mia Mottley of Barbados, Kamla Persad Bissessar of Trinidad, and Cora Richardson Hodge of affiliate member Anguilla as the feminine heads of presidency within the regional bloc.
Former President Chan Santokhi handed over the presidential sash to a smiling Simons throughout a unprecedented Nationwide Meeting sitting and instantly after signing the proclamation conferring her with the presidency. The brand new head of state and authorities additionally signed the doc. Vice President Gregory Rusland, 65, had taken the oath of workplace earlier, and the energy in a rustic that had lived by means of two previous army coups was transferred seamlessly.
As coalition supporters celebrated her swearing in, President Simons took over authorities with the nation making ready for transformation from an economic system based mostly on agriculture and extractive industries to 1 that shall be dominated by oil and fuel manufacturing beginning in 2028
Like neighboring Guyana, Suriname has found giant portions of offshore oil and fuel, with vital oil corporations flocking to the republic for a bit of the sector. The native greenback has slid in worth from US$7-1 to above 40 at present, whereas locals are complaining about rising inflation.
