Suriname votes for new government to steer oil windfall

Paramaribo, Suriname: Voting began on Sunday in Surinamese parliamentary elections that will determine who will harness giant oil wealth to carry out...

Paramaribo, Suriname: Voting began on Sunday in Surinamese parliamentary elections that will determine who will harness giant oil wealth to carry out a rags-to-riches transformation of the smallest country in South America.

The tiny nation -- the only one in the Americas with Dutch as its official language -- is battling high debt, rampant inflation and poverty affecting nearly one in five of its 600,000 inhabitants.

But recent offshore crude discoveries suggest this may all be about to change. On Sunday, Surinamese began electing a new parliament of 51 members, who within weeks must choose a new president and vice president for a five-year term to manage that wealth.

"It will be a huge amount of income for the country," incumbent President Chan Santokhi told AFP this week. "We are now able... to do more for our people so that everyone can be part of the growth of the nation."

Wearing a polo shirt in the orange color of his party under his jacket, Santokhi voted Sunday with his wife on the outskirts of Paramaribo and asked his fellow citizens to give him "the mandate to finish our task."