UPB wins, but lacks majority

�Coalition in Bonaire

�BONAIRE--?Union Patriotiko Boneriano? (UPB) of Ramosito Booi won Bonaire?s Island Council elections on Wednesday over the Democratic Party (DP) led by Robby Beukenboom with a difference of some 500 votes.

��However, due to the ?threshold? for residual seats having been reduced from 100 per cent to 75 per cent of the valid vote count divided by the total number of seats, newcomers ?Movementu Boneiru Liber? (MBL) led by Benito Dirksz and ?Pro Hustisia and Union? (PHU) of Michiel Bijkerk each managed to obtain a residual seat.

� As a result, UPB (3,037 votes) ended up with four and DP (2,514) with three seats, of which in both cases one was a residual seat as well. This automatically means there will be a coalition government, because none of the parties has a majority in the nine-seat Island Council.

� As there is little likelihood of the two large traditional political opponents getting together, MBL (821 votes) and PHU (651) may well be considered the biggest winners with a key position when it comes to negotiations on the new Executive Council, even though each has only one seat. The third new party ?Lista Soleana? did not win enough votes to earn a seat.

� The voter turnout was decent at 74 per cent. While employers were not obligated to give their workers time off to vote as used to be case, the polls stayed open until 9:00pm rather than 7:00pm like before.

� UPB and its followers were satisfied about winning the elections, but disappointed that they did not win a majority despite winning nine of the 10 voting districts. DP also had wanted a majority, but considers three seats combined with the lack of majority for UPB somewhat of a victory, especially taking into account that Jopie Abraham had stepped down recently as the DP leader after many years and had been succeeded by Beukenboom.

� Most happy were the supporters of MLB and PHU, with a good chance of getting into government after only their first election. It is not clear at this point whether MLB has a preference for either UPB or DP as coalition partner, but PHU would certainly seem to be leaning more towards DP.

� However, UPB would need only one of the two one-seat parties to form a majority while DP would need both, unless the two largest parties join hands as some are now calling for.

��Booi had already announced he would be stepping down as UPB leader after this election, with Elvis Tjin Asjoe or James Kroon most likely to succeed him.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14353-upb-wins-but-lacks-majority.html

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