🗳️ Narrow lead for opposition party NDP as final counting continues

while the misleading polls right before the election damage trust in journalism.

De Brief
May 27, 2025

At the end of Sunday and early Monday, the National Democratic Party (NDP) held a narrow lead of 18 seats over the VHP’s 17, prompting celebrations at the NDP headquarters and disappointment at the VHP headquarters.
Despite celebrations, NDP members expressed caution, acknowledging the slim margin and ongoing vote counting.
Early projections showed a tie, but as updates came in, the NDP gained a slight advantage, prompting party dignitaries and supporters to gather.
NDP chairwoman Jennifer Geerlings-Simons expressed optimism but urged patience as several thousand votes were still to be counted.
Vice-chairman Ashwin Adhin said even a one-seat lead signaled momentum and that the party was hopeful for a final count closer to 20 seats.
Adhin also emphasized the need to be open to dialogue with other parties, including the ruling VHP (Progressive Reform Party), despite prior political tensions.

VHP leader and President Chan Santokhi said coalition talks would begin only after official results, using them as a mandate from the people.
Santokhi had expected to retain the VHP’s 20 seats but held out hope, with 20,000 votes still to be counted from key districts like Wanica.
He noted strong VHP performances in Nickerie, Wanica, Saramacca, and Commewijne, but admitted Paramaribo results were disappointing.
The VHP had initiated coalition discussions with other parties before the election and will now resume those talks.
Some party members speculated that a VHP-NDP alliance was not off the table and noted a likely reliance on the ‘De Verenigde Volksvergadering.’
The ‘De Verenigde Volksvergadering’ is a meeting that takes place when the National Assembly cannot find a two-thirds majority. Upon the calling of such a meeting, decisions can be made for electing a president, requiring only two-thirds of the majority.
At the Dr. Franklin Essed stadium, ballot security was strict, with heavy access control for journalists and careful handling of the ballot boxes while the final votes were tallied.
Journalists observed ballots being received and verified under tight security before being placed into labeled boxes per polling station.

The Times of Suriname falsely claimed it commissioned a poll conducted by Jamaican agency Bluedot, a claim disputed by veteran journalists Ivan Cairo, Nita Ramcharan, and Wilfred Leeuwin.
The same poll had earlier been offered to de Ware Tijd and Starnieuws via Leeuwin, both of which declined to publish it due to journalistic concerns.
The publication of the poll by Times of Suriname is criticized as misleading and damaging to journalistic integrity and public trust.
Transparency about who commissioned and produced opinion polls is essential, especially during election periods.
Attempts to get a detailed response from Times of Suriname were unsuccessful, as the paper refused to comment.
The journalists emphasize that misleading reporting can manipulate voter perception and undermine the credibility of both the media and the electoral process.
They assert that journalism must be rooted in truth, integrity, and accountability, particularly during elections, and that silence in the face of misinformation enables manipulation.

The e-gov digital platform was not receiving much data from over 80 polling stations, leading to inaccurate turnout percentages.
Poor internet connections in parts of Paramaribo and Wanica are preventing data from being processed.
The current reported turnout is 56%, but this number is expected to rise significantly once all data is included.
E-gov director Preveen Ramadhin confirmed connection issues and said the system could not handle all the high data traffic.
The platform’s capacity was increased after 19:00 on Sunday in anticipation of the results from more and more voters.
As of 16:00 on Sunday, national voter turnout was still low at 46.4%, with only 186,000 people having voted.
Nickerie reported the highest turnout at 56%, while Paramaribo was below 44%, and Coronie and Marowijne were under 35% at 16:00.