At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Suriname

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Runaldo Ronald VENETIAAN
• Head of Government: Head of Government Runaldo Ronald VENETIAAN
• Assembly: Suriname has a unicameral the National Assembly (Nationale Assemblee) with 51 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.*
• In the the National Assembly (Nationale Assemblee) 51 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

* If no presidential or vice presidential candidate receives a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly after two votes, a simple majority is required in the United People's Assembly (Volksvergadering), which consists of 893 representatives from the national, local, and regional councils.

*** Members are elected to 10 multi-member constituencies. District magnitude is determined by the constitution and not population size.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Chandrikapersad SANTOKHI*
  • Alliance: New Front for Democracy and Development (NF Plus) / Nieuwe Front voor Democratie en Ontwikkeling
• Desiré Delano BOUTERSE**
  • Party: National Democratic Party (NDP) / Nationale Democratische Partij

* The New Front for Democracy and Development is an alliance composed of the National Party of Suriname (Nationale Partij Suriname), the Progressive Reform Party (Vooruitstrevende Hervormingspartij), the Democratic Alternative '91 (DA'91), and the Surinamese Labour Party (Surinaamse Partij van de Arbeid)
** During the vote in parliament, BOUTERSE received support from the A Combinatie and the People's Alliance.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 486,618 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 51 (July 2010 Registered voter number reflects number of seats in parliament)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 258,283 (2010)

·         Is Suriname a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Suriname ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (1 March 1993)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 5 (following the 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 103 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Suriname a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Suriname ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 77,721 (est.)