General elections were held in Suriname for the first time in April 1866 following the creation of a partially elected Colonial States. The Colonial States consisted of nine elected members and four appointed by the Governor-General.[1]
Electoral system
The elections were held using the two-round system, with suffrage restricted to men meeting certain criteria. Voters had multiple votes, and any candidate receiving a number of votes equivalent to over 50% of the valid ballots cast was elected in the first round. If not all seats were filled, a second round was held with twice the number of candidates as seats remaining, who were the candidates who received the most votes but failed to be elected in the first round.
Elected members were to serve six-year terms, with one-third of members elected every two years. Following the first elections in 1866 to elect all nine members, three members would be elected in 1868.
Appointed members served for one year.
Results
As there were 226 valid ballots cast, candidates required 114 votes to be elected in the first round.
Four candidates were elected in the first round, with a run-off taking place between the next ten candidates.
The newly elected Colonial States met for the first time on 8 May 1866. J. Mauritsz Ganderheyden was appointed chairman.
From the elected members, it was decided that Fergus Carstairs, B.E. Colaço Belmonte and J.J. Hewitt would serve until 1868, Daniel Benjamins, G.J.A. Bosch Reitz and N.T.A. Arlaud would serve until 1870, while E.F.L. Mollinger, J.V. Bouguenon and S. Soesman Jr would serve until 1872.
Mauritsz Ganderheyden resigned in 1867, after which S. Soesman Jr became chairman. Mauritsz Ganderheyden was replaced as a nominated member by Paul René Planteau [nl].
