Former military ruler Desi Bouterse has been elected as the president of Suriname, despite opposition efforts to stop him from returning to power, Press TV reported.
Bouterse was elected into the office of the presidency of the South American nation by securing 36 votes in the 51-seat parliament on Monday.
He called for national reconciliation after his victory.
"I reach out my hand to everyone who feels that they are adversaries and ask them to leave the past behind so we can build this country together," the Associated Press quoted Bouterse as saying to his supporters.
Surinamese opposition parties accused the 64-year-old Bouterse of seeking the presidency to halt the long-delayed trial he is facing in Suriname for the summary executions of 15 political opponents during the rule of his regime in 1982.
In 2007, Bouterse offered his first public apology for the 1982 killings but denied any involvement.
The incoming president also faces an international arrest warrant for drug smuggling.
In 1999, a Dutch court convicted him of trafficking cocaine to the Netherlands, but he has avoided an 11-year prison term because the two countries do not have an extradition treaty.
Bouterse first came to power in a 1980 military coup. He stepped down in 1987, but briefly seized power in a second coup in 1991.
He has played a role in Suriname's political life for about three decades.