At stake in this election:      

• The 51 seats in the National Assembly (Nationale Assemblée)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Dési BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010)
• Head of Government: President Dési BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010)
• Assembly: Suriname has a unicameral National Assembly (Nationale Assemblée) with 51 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.*
• In the National Assembly (Nationale Assemblée) 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.