Curaçao general election, 2016

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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 island country in the Caribbean, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

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 Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2016

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.

Contents

Electoral system

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.

Estates of Curaçao

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

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]

PartyAbbreviationLeaderVotesNotes
Kòrsou di nos turAmparo dos Santos2,178Qualified for the main elections
Movementu Patriótiko i Adelanto SosialPASCharles Cooper1,543Qualified for the main elections
Un Korsou HustuOmayra Leeflang1,361Qualified for the main elections
Movementu ProgresivoMarylin Moses1,240Qualified for the main elections
Movementu Kousa ProméRene Rosalia1,122Qualified for the main elections
Democratic Party DPGeraldine Parris1,094Qualified for the main elections
Partido pro Kòrsou Ivar Asjes 965Qualified for the main elections
Party Workers' Liberation Front 30 May FOL622
Partido Reskate Integral KòrsouPRIK505
1 TIM MAGNO378
Partido Aliansa Nobo280
Movementu Revelashon BintiR16273
Partido GOOL205
Fórsa Elevá/Partido KooperativistaFE/PKP62
Korsou, Un Pais NoboUPN49

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Partido MAN 12,83916.234+2
Movement for the Future of Curaçao 12,67116.014–1
Party for the Restructured Antilles 11,94915.1040
Korsou di Nos Tur 8,25410.433New
National People's Party 7,0178.872+1
Sovereign People 5,3236.732–3
Un Korsou Hustu 4,8456.121New
Movementu Progresivo 4,1405.231New
Partido pa Adelanto I Inovashon Soshal 3,6544.620–4
Movementu Patriótiko i Adelanto Sosial3,4524.360New
Democratic Party 1,9632.4800
Movementu Kousa Promé1,8672.360New
Pro Korsou1,1461.450New
Invalid/blank votes1,303
Total80,423100210
Eligible to vote/turnout120,45666.76
Source: KSE

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References

  1. Elections now on Wednesday Daily Herald - Sint Maarten, 30 September 2016
  2. Announcement Government Of Curaçao: Date Elections 2016 Curaçao Chronicle, 3 February 2016
  3. "Zeven partijen door naar 30 september" (in Dutch). Antilliaans Dagblad. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  4. Political structure The Economist Intelligence Unit
  5. Chairman of Curacao electoral council discusses upcoming general election Caribbean News Now, 12 July 2016
  6. "Ondersteuning van kandidatentlijsten voor de Statenverkiezing van 30 september 2016 op 20 en 21 augustus 2016 Voorlopige uitkomst" (PDF). Hoofdstembureau Curaçao (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 August 2016.