Paramaribo, Suriname--Suriname has given President Desi Bouterse's party an absolute majority in parliament, according to partial election results Tuesday, consolidating the ex-dictator and convicted drug trafficker's grip on power.
Voters gave Bouterse's National Democratic Party (NDP) 27 seats in the 51-member National Assembly, according to the partial results.
Bouterse, 69, will have to muster another seven votes to guarantee his own re-election -- the president is chosen by a two-thirds majority of parliament.
But the NDP appears on track for the biggest win by a single party in Suriname's history, enabling it to govern alone for the first time in a country used to coalition rule.
Full results are expected later Tuesday, and will be officially ratified in about two weeks.
If the results are upheld, Monday's polls will probably enable Bouterse to cast off his awkward alliance with one-time nemesis Ronnie Brunswijk, a former guerrilla leader who fought a civil war against Bouterse's military government in the 1980s.
Watching the results as they came in, NDP members waving their party's purple flag claimed victory and celebrated with fireworks and dancing.
NDP official Andre Misiekaba said the strong showing would resolve deadlock in parliament, enabling the party to continue its popular expansion of social welfare programs and infrastructure spending.
AFP
