PARAMARIBO, Suriname, (CMC) – Suriname’s director of the Ministry of the Interior, Nasier Eskak, says the country’s official election period will begin on Tuesday with the inspection of the electoral roll.

It will be held in the Congreshal, the Congress Hall, a convention centre that was built for the 1999 Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit. Eskak said the slogan and logo of the elections of 25 May 2025 will also be launched.

He said in addition to online, eligible voters will be able to check the electoral roll at 344 locations nationwide.

Eskak told reporters that it will start with approximately 100 locations including markets and malls and that the aim is to reach as many voters as possible, so that errors can still be corrected.

The exercise will continue until February 12 with the official indicating that after that, it will no longer be possible to make changes. The electoral roll now contains more than 401,000 voters.

Eskak is calling on all eligible voters to check their personal data so that any errors can be corrected. He said this applies to all citizens who have already reached the voting age of 18 or those who will turn 18 up to the day of the elections. Only an ID card, driver’s license or a valid passport is required to consult the electoral roll.

Meanwhile, the ruling Progressive Reform Party (VHP), headed by President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, says it is hoping to win at least 26 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly in order to govern the country for a second term.

In the 2020 general election, the VHP won 20 seats and entered into a coalition with other parties to form the government, thereby defeating the National Democratic Party (NDP) of then president Desi Bouterse, who died according to an autopsy report on either December 23 or 24 last year from complications of liver failure due to severe liver fibrosis caused by chronic alcohol use

Bouterse, 79, was sentenced in 2023 to 20 years in prison over the killing of opposition members in 1982. He died as a fugitive from justice.

Speaking at a VHP meeting in Nickerie on the north-west coast, executive member, Mahinder Jogi, defended the performance of the coalition government, saying despite a huge debt and an empty state treasury, much has been done for the country.

Various speakers, including Finance and Planning Minister, Stanley Raghoebarsing, said the government has been able to implement a number of projects beneficial to the population across the country.

Jogi reminded supporters that NDP chairwoman, Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, headed the National Assembly for 10 years and could have taken corrective action and prevented the then government from bringing the country to the brink of collapse.