Sri Sri Ravi Shankar congratulates Mathoera on becoming Suriname's Defence Minister

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar congratulated Art of Living (Suriname) President Krishna Mathoera on becoming the Defense Minister of the South American nation. Mathoera, a policewoman-turned-politician, belongs to Progressive Reform Party (VHP) and is a member of National Assembly of Suriname.

Suriname recently elected VHP’s Chandrikapersad Santokhi as the new President, replacing former military strongman Desi Bouterse. National Democratic Party (NDP) lost its majority in the Parliament in the general elections held on May 25, paving way for the VHP to rule the country known for its melting-pot culture.

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Coalition government

VHP General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP) are part of the ruling coalition which also includes The National Party of Suriname (NPS) and the Pertjajah Luhur (PL). The coalition controls a decisive 33 seats out of 51 in the parliament. As part of the coalition deal, ABOP leader Ronnie Brunswijk was elected as the Vice President without any opposition.

Mathoera successfully supervised the election and announced that the nomination process had been done correctly. Born in 1963, Mathoera began her public service around 1980 by joining the Suriname police force and served for 34 years. She represented the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission for five years until 2015 when she left the service and turned towards politics. In 2020 general elections, she won parliament seat from Paramaribo, becoming of the seven elected VHP members from the capital city.

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