PARAMARIBO, Suriname, July 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Lawmakers elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as Suriname's first woman president on Sunday, after her party won the most seats in legislative elections in May.

The 71-year-old former opposition leader was left the sole candidate for president after her rivals decided on Thursday not to nominate anyone to lead the small country on South America's northern coast.

Geerlings-Simons' National Democratic Party (NDP) won 18 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, more than those of the centrist VHP party of outgoing president Chan Santokhi.

The NDP had already entered into an agreement with five other parties with which it jointly holds 34 seats in parliament -- obtaining the two-thirds majority needed to claim the presidency.

The NDP was founded by former coup leader and autocrat-turned-elected-president Desi Bouterse, who died in hiding in December 2024.

Under his iron-fisted rule, Suriname was labeled a narco-state, with Bouterse convicted in the Netherlands for smuggling drugs.

Santokhi's party had hoped to form a coalition to remain in power, but said in a statement that it had decided not to oppose Geerlings-Simons' election.

Geerlings-Simons said she "accepted the position," in a speech to lawmakers, ahead of an inauguration due July 16.

"I am acutely aware of the responsibility that now rests on our shoulders. This responsibility is made greater by the fact that I am, in fact, the first woman to hold this office," Geerlings-Simons said.

"I will use all my knowledge, strength and insight to make our wealth available to all our fellow citizens, with special attention to our young people and those who have so far not had the opportunities to develop," she added.

- Oil-rich -

The former Dutch colony of 600,000 inhabitants, one of the poorest countries in South America, has been wracked by a civil war and military coups since its independence in 1975.

The government is hoping that an oil boom will follow from recently discovered offshore oil reserves.

These could bring the tiny nation, where 20 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, an unprecedented windfall from 2028 -- when an offshore block begins production.

During the campaign, Geerlings-Simons, former chairperson of the National Assembly, said she wanted "to be in power to ensure that the population really benefits" from the expected oil revenues.

This would involve "establishing a law that requires all companies to work with Surinamese people and buy Surinamese products."

Suriname, a diverse country made up of descendants of people from India, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands, Indigenous groups and Africans made to work as slaves, marks its 50th anniversary of independence from the Dutch throne this November.

In recent years, it has looked increasingly toward China as a political ally and trading partner and, in 2019, became one of the first Latin American countries to join the Asian giant's Belt and Road infrastructure drive.