PARAMARIBO, SURINAME (AFP)

Lawmakers elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as Suriname's first woman president on Sunday, after her party won the most seats in legislative elections in May.

The 71-year-old former opposition leader was left the sole candidate for president after her rivals decided on Thursday not to nominate anyone to lead the small country on South America's northern coast.

Geerlings-Simons' National Democratic Party (NDP) won 18 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, more than those of the centrist VHP party of outgoing president Chan Santokhi.

The NDP had already entered into an agreement with five other parties with which it jointly holds 34 seats in parliament -- obtaining the two-thirds majority needed to claim the presidency.

Geerlings-Simons said she "accepted the position," in a speech to lawmakers, ahead of an inauguration due July 16.

"I am acutely aware of the responsibility that now rests on our shoulders. This responsibility is made greater by the fact that I am, in fact, the first woman to hold this office," Geerlings-Simons said.

"I will use all my knowledge, strength and insight to make our wealth available to all our fellow citizens, with special attention to our young people and those who have so far not had the opportunities to develop," she added.

The former Dutch colony of 600,000 inhabitants gained its independence in 1975.

The government is hoping that an oil boom will follow from recently discovered offshore oil reserves.

These could bring the tiny nation, where 20 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, an unprecedented windfall from 2028 -- when an offshore block begins production.

During the campaign, Geerlings-Simons, former chairperson of the National Assembly, said she wanted "to be in power to ensure that the population really benefits" from the expected oil revenues.

This would involve "establishing a law that requires all companies to work with Surinamese people and buy Surinamese products."

Suriname, a diverse country made up of descendants of people from India, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands, indigenous groups, and Africans, marks its 50th anniversary of independence from the Dutch throne this November.