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.
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.
The smallest country in South
America, Suriname was colonized by the British and Dutch and gained
independence from the Netherlands in 1975.
Five years later, a group of sergeants led by Bouterse overthrew prime minister Henck Arron and installed a military government.
Whether
in his dictator's fatigues and sunglasses or his sharp president's
suit, Bouterse, 69, has loomed large over the country's politics ever
since.
His regime put down
two counter-coups and rounded up and executed 15 opponents in 1982, an
event known as the "December killings."
Bouterse stepped down in 1987, but returned to power in 1990 in a second bloodless coup.
After
leaving power a second time, Bouterse was indicted and court-martialed
for the December killings, but his coalition passed a controversial
amnesty law in 2012 that aborted the trial.
The
president and his family have faced a host of other legal woes, adding
to the country's reputation for drug running, money laundering and
graft.
The Netherlands
convicted him in absentia of cocaine smuggling in 1999, but he remained
free because Suriname does not extradite its citizens.
Earlier this year, a Dutch court rejected his third bid to have the conviction overturned.
In
March, a US court sentenced his son Dino, who had served as his
father's top counter-terrorism official, to 16 years in prison on
charges of trying to aid and arm Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and
conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
Bouterse
has shrugged off these scandals and bolstered his popularity with
expanded social welfare programs, free university education and lavish
spending on infrastructure projects such as bridges, schools and
housing.
The V7, formerly
known as the New Front, accuses him of corruption and populism, and
warns the tab for these projects will hurt when it arrives.
It
also blames the NDP for an energy crisis it says was caused by shady
deals with US-based aluminum giant Alcoa for the Afobaka hydroelectric
dam, which generates most of the mineral-rich, upper-middle-income
country's power.
In all,
seven parties and four coalitions are vying for the ballots of 350,000
registered voters, who will also elect their district and local
representatives.
Polls open at 7:00 am (1000 GMT) and close 12 hours later.
The first, partial results are expected at 10:00 pm, with a projection of the full results early Tuesday.
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