Windward Islands People's Movement | |
---|---|
Leader | Rolando Wilson |
President | Bruce Zagers |
Founded | 1970[1] |
Preceded by | Windward Islands People’s Party |
Ideology | Christian democracy |
Political position | Centre-right |
Regional affiliation | Christian Democrat Organization of America |
Colours | Orange |
Saba Island council | 3 / 5 |
The Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM) is a political party in Saba. It has won a majority of seats in the Island Council in all but two elections since 1971.
It held all five seats in the Island Council after the 2019 elections and until June 1, 2022, when council member Hemmie Van Xanten resigned from the party while continuing to serve as a councilor. [2] [3] [4] When party member Esmeralda Johnson was elected to a seat on the island council in 2019, she became the youngest person ever to serve on it. [5]
Until the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, the party competed in island council elections and for the single Saba seat in the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles (which it won in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 elections). The party has also participated in the island council elections of Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten (until its merger with the Sint Maarten Patriotic Movement (S.P.M.)).
When Saba became part of the Netherlands as a special municipality in 2010, the 2007 island council stayed (where the party obtained four of the five seats) until the election under Dutch law in 2011. [6]
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 | 3 / 5 | Majority | |||
1975 | 421 | 73.09 | 4 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
1979 | 483 | 81.04 | 5 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
1983 | 470 | 77.43 | 4 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
1987 | 328 | 51.01 | 2 / 5 | 2 | Opposition |
1991 | 437 | 71.99 | 4 / 5 | 2 | Majority |
1995 | 346 | 54.75 | 2 / 5 | 2 | Opposition |
1999 | 400 | 70.67 | 4 / 5 | 2 | Majority |
2003 | 298 | 47.30 | 3 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
2007 | 447 | 73.8 | 4 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
2011 | 686 | 83.4 | 4 / 5 | 0 | Majority |
2015 | 545 | 57.2 | 3 / 5 | 1 | Majority |
2019 | 777 | 79.04 | 5 / 5 | 2 | Majority |
2023 | 617 | 59.33 | 3 / 5 | 2 | Majority |
Saba is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the dormant volcano Mount Scenery, which at 887 metres (2,910 ft) is the highest point of the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Together with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius it forms the BES islands, also known as the Caribbean Netherlands.
The SSS islands, locally also known as the Windward Islands, is a collective term for the three territories of the Dutch Caribbean that are located within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. In order of population size, they are: Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. In some contexts, the term is also used to refer to the entire island of Saint Martin, alongside Sint Eustatius and Saba.
Elections in the Netherlands Antilles were held for two territorial levels of government: the state, and the island territories.
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The Caribbean Netherlands is a geographic region of the Netherlands located outside of Europe, in the Caribbean, consisting of three special municipalities. These are the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, as they are also known in legislation, or the BES islands for short. The islands are officially classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas territories of the European Union; as such, European Union law does not automatically apply to them.
The Dutch Caribbean are the New World territories, colonies, and countries of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the northern and southwestern regions of the Lesser Antilles archipelago.
An island council was the governing body of an island territory, an administrative level of the Netherlands Antilles until its dissolution.
The Saba Labour Party (SLP) is a political party in Saba. The 2019 elections saw the SLP lose both their seats in the Island Council.
The Island Council of Saba is the legislative body of the Dutch special municipality of Saba. It consists of five members and elections take place every four years. The Island Council appoints and supervises the commissioners in the Executive Council. The Island Council is chaired by the Island Governor.
Island council elections were held in the Caribbean Netherlands on 20 March 2019 to elect the members of the island councils of Bonaire and Saba. The elections were held on the same day as the electoral college elections in the Caribbean Netherlands, and the provincial and water board elections in the European Netherlands. The election was won by the Bonaire People's Movement in Bonaire and by the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba.
Island council elections were held in the Caribbean Netherlands on 18 March 2015 to elect the members of the island councils of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. The elections were held on the same day as the provincial and water board elections in the European Netherlands. The election was won by the Movement of Bonaire People in Bonaire, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, and the Progressive Labour Party in Sint Eustatius.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles in 1975. They were the seventh elections for the Island Council.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles in April 1979. They were the eighth elections for the Island Council.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 29 April and 6 May 1983 to elect the members of the island councils of its six island territories. The election was won by the People's Electoral Movement in Aruba, the Bonaire Democratic Party in Bonaire, the New Antilles Movement in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 12 April 1991 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. The election was won by the Bonaire Patriotic Union in Bonaire, the National People's Party in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, and the Sint Maarten Patriotic Alliance in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 7 April and 12 May 1995 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. The election was won by the Bonaire Democratic Party in Bonaire, the Party for the Restructured Antilles in Curaçao, the Saba Democratic Labour Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 7 May and 21 May 1999 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. The election was won by the Party for the Restructured Antilles in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, the Sint Eustatius Alliance in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 9 May and 23 May 2003 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. The election was won by the Bonaire Patriotic Union in Bonaire, the Workers' Liberation Front in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 20 April 2007 to elect the members of the island councils of its five island territories. They were the last regular island council elections before the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010.
Esmeralda Johnson is a politician from Saba, and former member of the Saba Island Council for the Windward Islands People's Movement. She held this post since 28 March 2019 when, at age 21, she became the youngest person to serve in that capacity.