This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Curaçao |
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General elections were held in Curaçao on 5 October 2016, having been postponed from 30 September due to Hurricane Matthew. [1] [2] A total of thirteen parties participated. [3]
Curaçao is a Lesser Antilles island in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuelan coast. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Felix in 2007. Matthew caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, Matthew was the thirteenth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It caused extensive damage to landmasses in the Greater Antilles, and severe damage in several islands of the Bahamas who were still recovering from Joaquin which had pounded such areas nearly a year earlier. At one point, the hurricane even threatened to be the first storm of Category 3 or higher intensity to strike the United States since Wilma in 2005, but Matthew stayed just offshore paralleling the Floridan coastline.
The 21 members of the Estates are elected by proportional representation. [4] Parties that won seats in the previous elections are allowed to participate, whilst primary elections are held to determine which other parties can run, with parties required to receive the equivalent of 1% of the vote at the previous elections in order to participate.
The Parliament of Curaçao consist of 21 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 27 August 2010.
Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.
Primary elections were held prior to the elections for new parties or parties that had failed to win seats in the previous elections in 2012, with parties having to obtain the equivalent of 1% of the vote in the previous elections; [5] i.e. 870 votes.
A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.
The primary elections took place on 20 and 21 August 2016, with seven of the fifteen participating parties qualifying: [6]
Party | Abbreviation | Leader | Votes | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kòrsou di nos tur | Amparo dos Santos | 2,178 | Qualified for the main elections | |
Movementu Patriótiko i Adelanto Sosial | PAS | Charles Cooper | 1,543 | Qualified for the main elections |
Un Korsou Hustu | Omayra Leeflang | 1,361 | Qualified for the main elections | |
Movementu Progresivo | Marylin Moses | 1,240 | Qualified for the main elections | |
Movementu Kousa Promé | Rene Rosalia | 1,122 | Qualified for the main elections | |
Democratic Party | DP | Geraldine Parris | 1,094 | Qualified for the main elections |
Partido pro Kòrsou | Ivar Asjes | 965 | Qualified for the main elections | |
Party Workers' Liberation Front 30 May | FOL | 622 | ||
Partido Reskate Integral Kòrsou | PRIK | 505 | ||
1 TIM MAGNO | 378 | |||
Partido Aliansa Nobo | 280 | |||
Movementu Revelashon Binti | R16 | 273 | ||
Partido GOOL | 205 | |||
Fórsa Elevá/Partido Kooperativista | FE/PKP | 62 | ||
Korsou, Un Pais Nobo | UPN | 49 |
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Partido MAN | 12,839 | 16.23 | 4 | +2 | |
Movement for the Future of Curaçao | 12,671 | 16.01 | 4 | –1 | |
Party for the Restructured Antilles | 11,949 | 15.10 | 4 | 0 | |
Korsou di Nos Tur | 8,254 | 10.43 | 3 | New | |
National People's Party | 7,017 | 8.87 | 2 | +1 | |
Sovereign People | 5,323 | 6.73 | 2 | –3 | |
Un Korsou Hustu | 4,845 | 6.12 | 1 | New | |
Movementu Progresivo | 4,140 | 5.23 | 1 | New | |
Partido pa Adelanto I Inovashon Soshal | 3,654 | 4.62 | 0 | –4 | |
Movementu Patriótiko i Adelanto Sosial | 3,452 | 4.36 | 0 | New | |
Democratic Party | 1,963 | 2.48 | 0 | 0 | |
Movementu Kousa Promé | 1,867 | 2.36 | 0 | New | |
Pro Korsou | 1,146 | 1.45 | 0 | New | |
Invalid/blank votes | 1,303 | – | – | – | |
Total | 80,423 | 100 | 21 | 0 | |
Eligible to vote/turnout | 120,456 | 66.76 | – | – | |
Source: KSE |
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