As Suriname stands on the brink of a significant oil boom, voters have participated in parliamentary elections to select new leadership, who will then choose the nation’s next president. This election determines who will govern the smallest country in South America.

The elections on Sunday were shadowed by allegations of fraud. Discussions have been limited regarding how the incoming government, set to serve until 2030, should manage revenues from the offshore Gran Morgu oil and gas project, slated to commence production in 2028.

Experts suggest that Suriname, grappling with poverty and high inflation, is poised to generate billions of dollars over the next one to two decades from newly discovered offshore crude deposits.

Spearheaded by TotalEnergies, the Gran Morgu project marks Suriname’s first major offshore venture.The nation, which gained independence from the netherlands in 1975, has identified reserves that could enable it to compete with neighbouring guyana, which saw its economy expand by 43.6 percent last year.

“It will be a huge amount of income for the country,” President Chan Santokhi told the AFP news agency this week. “We are now able … to do more for our people, so that everyone can be part of the growth of the nation.”

While President Santokhi is eligible for a second term, pollsters indicate an uncertain outcome due to the absence of a clear frontrunner among the parties.

The party securing the most seats will likely lead Suriname’s next government through a coalition, with negotiations and the presidential selection process anticipated to span several weeks.

Fourteen parties are participating in the elections, including President Santokhi’s Progressive Reform Party and the National Democratic Party of former President Desi Bouterse.

Also contending is the General liberation and Development Party of Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk, a former rebel who opposed Bouterse’s government in the 1980s.

Preliminary results are expected by late Sunday.

Suriname,a nation with a diverse population including descendants from India,Indonesia,China,the Netherlands,Indigenous communities,and enslaved Africans,will commemorate its 50th year of independence from the Netherlands in november.

Since gaining independence, Suriname has increasingly aligned with China as a political and trade partner, joining China’s Belt and road Initiative in 2019.

United states Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Suriname in March as part of a regional tour focused on addressing China’s growing influence.

Forests cover over 90 percent of Suriname,making it one of the few countries with a negative carbon footprint.

Suriname’s Green Energy Transition

President Santokhi has affirmed that this status is secure, stating that Suriname can leverage its oil revenues “for the transition towards the green energy which we need, also as we certainly know the fossil energy is limited.”

“It will be gone after 40 years.”

“It will be a huge amount of income for the country… we are now able to do more for our people.”