Oil riches are on the horizon as Suriname chooses its next government

A new parliament will be elected in Suriname, which is currently in the midst of a much-anticipated oil boom. The new parliament will then choose the next president of South America.

There has already been little discussion about what the next government, which will be in power until 2030, should do with money earned from the Gran Morgu offshore oil and gas project. Sunday’s elections have already been marred by fraud allegations. In 2028, production will start.

According to experts, Suriname, a nation plagued by poverty and rife with inflation, is projected to earn billions of dollars from recently discovered offshore crude deposits in the next ten years or two.

Suriname’s first significant offshore endeavor is led by TotalEnergies. The former Dutch colony discovered reserves that might make it more competitive with nearby Guyana, whose economy increased by 43.6 percent last year, as a major producer.

This week, President Chan Santokhi told the AFP news agency, “It will be a significant amount of income for the country.” “We are now able to do more for our people,” he said, “so that everyone can contribute to the nation’s growth.”

Pollsters are predicting the outcome because Santokhi is constitutionally eligible for a second term but there is no single party with a clear lead in the elections.

The party with the most seats will likely form a coalition with smaller parties to form Suriname’s next government, but negotiations and appointing a new president are anticipated to take place in a few weeks.

The elections are being held by 14 different political parties, including Desi Bouterse, a former coup leader and president, and Santokhi’s centrist Progressive Reform Party, a former president.

The center-left General Liberation and Development Party of Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk, a former rebel who fought insurgency in the 1980s, is also running.

By late Sunday, preliminary results should be available.

Suriname, a diverse nation made up of people from India, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands, indigenous groups, and enslaved Africans, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in November.

It has become one of the first Latin American nations to join the Asian giant’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive since its independence, and it has grown closer to China since then.

In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a stopover in Suriname as part of a regional tour to combat China’s growing influence there.

One of the few nations in the world with a negative carbon footprint is India, where over 90% of the country is covered in forests.

Santokhi argued that Suriname’s situation is not in danger and that Suriname could use its oil windfall to “transition to the green energy we needed, as well as knowing that fossil fuel resources are insufficient.”