Paramaribo, Suriname - Desi Bouterse, the colourful dictator-turned-president who has ruled Suriname on and off since 1980, is looking to consolidate power when the small South American country holds general elections on Monday.
A convicted drug trafficker who has been a coup leader and an international fugitive, Bouterse is seeking to dispense with his alliance with one-time nemesis Ronnie Brunswijk and preside over the first non-coalition democratic government in Suriname's history.
Bouterse's National Democratic Party (NDP) formed a government after the last elections in 2010 by forging a motley mega-coalition, returning him to power for the second time since his 1980-1987 military government.
But after the coalition fell apart, the NDP decided to go it alone this time, buoyed by strong standings in opinion polls.
The party needs to win at least 26 seats in the 51-member National Assembly to govern alone, and 34 seats to re-elect Bouterse -- the president is chosen by a two-thirds majority of parliament.
The main opposition is the V7, a coalition of six parties that accuses Bouterse of massive corruption and has a broad ethnic base in the racially diverse country whose 500,000 people have roots in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
The third main group, and possible power-broker, is the Alternative Combination alliance led by Brunswijk, a former guerrilla leader who fought a civil war against Bouterse's military government before teaming up with his former foe in 2010.
The party's base are the Maroons, the descendants of fugitive slaves who set up settlements in the Surinamese interior.
AFP
