Chan Santokhi


Chan Santokhi
चान संतोखी
Official portrait, 2020
9th President of Suriname
In office
16 July 2020 – 16 July 2025
Vice PresidentRonnie Brunswijk
Preceded byDési Bouterse
Succeeded byJennifer Geerlings-Simons
Leader of the Progressive Reform Party
Assumed office
3 July 2011
Preceded byRamdien Sardjoe
Member of the National Assembly
In office
12 August 2010 – 16 July 2020
ConstituencyWanica District
Minister of Justice and Police
In office
1 September 2005 – 13 August 2010
PresidentRonald Venetiaan
Preceded bySiegfried Gilds
Succeeded byLamuré Latour (ad interim)
Martin Misiedjan
Chairman of the Caribbean Community
In office
1 July 2022[1] – 31 December 2022
Secretary-GeneralCarla Barnett
Preceded byJohnny Briceño[1]
Succeeded byPhilip Davis
Personal details
Born
Chandrikapersad Santokhi

(1959-02-03) 3 February 1959
Lelydorp, Suriname District, Suriname (present-day Wanica District, Suriname)
Political partyProgressive Reform Party
Spouse(s)
Unknown
(divorced)

Mellisa Seenacherry
(m. 2020)
Children2
Alma materNederlandse Politieacademie, Apeldoorn (BS)
AwardsHonorary Order of the Yellow Star (2010)[2]
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2023)
Nickname(s)Sheriff

Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former chief of police who has been the President of Suriname from 2020 until 2025.

Presidency

After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the only nomination for President of Suriname. On 13 July, Santokhi was elected President in an uncontested election. He was inaugurated three days later on 16 July.[3]

He was inaugurated on 16 July, on the Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Paramaribo in ceremony without the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

In September 2021, Santokhi visited the Netherlands and became the first Surinamese president to do so since 2008, after diplomatic relations between the two countries had become better.[5]

Personal life

On 19 July 2020, Chan Santokhi married his long-term partner, Mellisa Seenacherry.[6] He also has two adult children from his last marriage.[7]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Rotation schedulecaricom.org Archived 2021-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "H.E. Chandrikapersad Santokhi". Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Inauguratie nieuwe president van Suriname op Onafhankelijkheidsplein". Waterkant (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. "Live blog: Inauguratie president en vicepresident". De Ware Tijd (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  5. "Waarom het bezoek van de Surinaamse president aan Nederland historisch is". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. "President Santokhi en partner Mellisa trouwen vandaag". Star Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. Ramcharan, Ashwin (21 April 2020). Chan (PDF) (in Dutch). Uitgeverij De Mango Boom. p. 163. ISBN 978-94-028-1728-7.

Other websites

Media related to Chan Santokhi at Wikimedia Commons