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General elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 22 January 2010. [1] [2] Voters elected the 22 members of the Estates, or parliament, of the Netherlands Antilles. It has been the country's last general election, as the Netherlands Antilles have ceased to exist as a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010. [3] At the time of the elections, the Netherlands Antilles consisted of the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten.
The Council of Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles announced on 16 September 2009, that it had chosen 22 January 2010 as the official date for the upcoming general election. [2] Voter registration for the election ended in November 2009. [1] Antillean political parties who wish to contest the election must submit their list of candidates by the first week of December 2009. [1]
There was some disagreement among politicians in the Netherlands Antilles as to the exact date of the upcoming election. [1] Some politicians, including the Minister of Constitutional Affairs Roland Duncan, advocated an election date of 29 January 2010, instead. [1] However, the 29 January date was ultimately rejected because the annual Tumba Festival also takes place on Curaçao on that date. [1]
Glenn Sulvaran of the Curaçao based Party for the Restructured Antilles (PAR) argued against the original proposed 29 January date, noting that elections are not held during the carnival season on Sint Maarten or other islands, so the general election should not conflict with the Tumba Festival. [1] Minister of Constitutional Affairs Roland Duncan rejected that argument, noting that the festival could be rescheduled for an event as important as a general election. [1] Duncan criticized the perception that Curaçao's interests dominated those of other islands in the Netherlands Antilles, "Sometimes I have to wonder how serious we are. This is a prime example of how much of a farce the Netherlands Antilles is. What is best for Curaçao automatically has to be best for the other islands as well." [1]
A date of 22 January 2010, was ultimately agreed upon by the Council of Ministers. [1]
On Curaçao, the PAR won the most seats, and were expected to form the next government.
| Party | Island | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party for the Restructured Antilles | Curaçao | 26,641 | 6 | ||
| List of Change (MAN–FK–LNPA) | Curaçao | 23,552 | 5 | ||
| Sovereign People | Curaçao | 10,789 | 2 | ||
| National Alliance | Sint Maarten | 6,939 | 3 | ||
| National People's Party | Curaçao | 6,494 | 1 | ||
| Workers' Liberation Front | Curaçao | 4,373 | 0 | ||
| Bonaire Patriotic Union | Bonaire | 3,673 | 2 | ||
| Democratic Party Sint Maarten | Sint Maarten | 3,560 | 0 | ||
| Bonaire Democratic Party | Bonaire | 2,720 | 1 | ||
| Democratic Party | Curaçao | 1,815 | 0 | ||
| List of Change | Bonaire | 1,126 | 0 | ||
| People's Progressive Alliance | Sint Maarten | 916 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Party | Sint Eustatius | 602 | 1 | ||
| Windward Islands People's Movement | Saba | 393 | 1 | ||
| Progressive Labour Party | Sint Eustatius | 341 | 0 | ||
| Party for an Emancipated People | Curaçao | 311 | 0 | ||
| Movement Opposing Isla Refinery | Curaçao | 195 | 0 | ||
| Total | 22 | ||||
| Source: Amigoe Bonaire Reporter St. Maarten Island Time | |||||
The Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country consisted of several island territories located in the Caribbean Sea. The islands were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies. The Antilles were dissolved in 2010. The Dutch colony of Surinam, although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954. All the island territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status. People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans in the Netherlands.
The Democratic Party is a liberal party in Curaçao founded in 1944. The party has participated in elections for the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles and the Island Council of Curaçao until the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, obtaining a single seat in the island council in 2007.
The music of the former Netherlands Antilles is a mixture of native, African and European elements, and is closely connected with trends from neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Colombia and islands such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Martinique, Trinidad, Dominica, and Guadeloupe. The former Netherlands Antilles islands of Curaçao and Aruba are known for their typical waltzes, danzas, mazurkas and a kind of music called tumba, which is named after the conga drums that accompany it.
The Netherlands Antilles national football team was the national team of the former Netherlands Antilles from 1958 to 2010. It was controlled by the Nederlands Antilliaanse Voetbal Unie. The NAVU consisted of Curaçao and Bonaire. Aruba split in 1986 and has its own team.
Elections in the Netherlands Antilles were held for two territorial levels of government: the state, and the island territories.
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The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a legal instrument that sets out the political relationship between the four countries that constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten in the Caribbean and the Netherlands in Europe. It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the three other countries are legally subordinate to the Charter.
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The country code 599 was assigned to the Netherlands Antilles, and is in use by Curaçao and the Caribbean Netherlands.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Netherlands Antilles:
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known as simply the Netherlands, consists of the entire area in which the monarch of the Netherlands functions as head of state. The realm is not a federation; it is a collection of states and territories united under its monarch. 98% of its territory and population is in Western Europe; it also includes several small West Indian island territories in the Caribbean.
A constitutional referendum was held in Bonaire on 17 December 2010. The new constitution would make the island a municipality within the Netherlands. Although the results showed 88% had voted against the new status, the referendum had required a 51% turnout and was subsequently declared invalid as the actual turnout was only 35%.
The Parliament of Sint Maarten is a unicameral legislature that consists of 15 members, each elected for a four-year term in a general election. The first parliament was installed on 10 October 2010, the date of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, and consisted of the members of the island council elected on 17 September 2010. The current President of Parliament is Grisha Heyliger-Marten.
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The Caribbean guilder is a proposed new currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the Caribbean islands which became "landen" within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010. The Caribbean guilder would replace the Antillean guilder at par and be pegged to the U.S. dollar. In November 2020, it was announced that the Caribbean guilder would come into circulation the following year, but it was delayed several times.
The Dutch Caribbean are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-west of the Lesser Antilles archipelago.
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