Rusland served as Minister for Natural Resources between 2005 and 2010. In this period he received criticism for the low taxation rate that Canadian mining company
Iamgold had to pay. Since June 2012 Rusland is leader of the
National Party of Suriname, taking over leadership from
Ronald Venetiaan. He won the internal party election against
Ivan Fernald, with Rusland winning seven out of eleven districts. After the elections the National Assembly had to elect the
President and
Vice President of Suriname. Rusland once again served as candidate for vice president next to Chan Santokhi. On 23 April 2020, after the public prosecutor had indicated that it wanted to prosecute Finance Minister
Gillmore Hoefdraad for mismanagement at the
Central Bank of Suriname, Rusland stated that Hoedraad should immediately offer his position to the President. On 30 May 2020, five days after the
2020 Surinamese general election was held, and with the official results still pending, Rusland and the leaders of the
Progressive Reform Party,
General Liberation and Development Party and
Pertjajah Luhur signed an agreement to form a coalition government. Rusland was once again elected to the
National Assembly for Paramaribo District in the 2020 elections. On 1 July 2020, Rusland tested COVID-19 positive. He had been tested, because
Paul Somohardjo with whom he had lengthy meetings about the new government tested positive. Rusland's wife was infected as well even though she had stayed at home for the last three weeks. In December 2020 he was re-elected as leader of the National Party of Suriname for a third time. In February 2023, the NPS under Rusland left the
Santokhi cabinet, with the NPS stating that it had been hardly involved in government during the preceding two years. After the
2025 election, Rusland put aside his party's longstanding rivalry with the
National Democratic Party and joined an NDP-led supermajority coalition. In return, NDP leader
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons named Rusland as her vice presidential running mate. They were elected unopposed on 6 July. ==Personal life==