Aruba

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Aruba

Constitution Governor Fredis Refunjol Prime Minister Nelson Oduber Estates Political parties Elections: 2005

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Politics of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic country, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela Aruba 's Constitution Day Aruba's State Constitution was unanimously approved by all political parties represented in Aruba's Parliament on August 9 1985 and was proclaimed The Governor of Aruba is the representative on Aruba of the Dutch head of state ( Queen Beatrix) Fredis Refunjol is the current Governor of Aruba. Governor Refunjol was born in Aruba in 1950 and is married to Clarette Lopez The Prime Minister of Aruba is Aruba 's Head of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers they form the Executive branch of Aruban government The Estates ( Staten) is the Legislature or Parliament of Aruba. This article lists political parties in Aruba. Aruba has a Multi-party system with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful Elections in Aruba gives information on Election and election results in Aruba. General elections were held in Aruba on 23 September 2005. They were won by the People's Electoral Movement, which took 11 of the 21 seats in Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent The Netherlands and The Kingdom of the Netherlands are two distinct geographical and administrative entities A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of the people's representatives In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity The Prime Minister of Aruba is Aruba 's Head of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers they form the Executive branch of Aruban government This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition Executive power is exercised by the government. In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State Aruba but it has full autonomy on most matters. Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela Exceptions are defence, foreign affairs, and the Supreme Court. The constitution was enacted in January 1986. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Executive power rests with a governor, and a prime minister heads an eight-member Cabinet. The Prime Minister of Aruba is Aruba 's Head of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers they form the Executive branch of Aruban government The governor of Aruba is appointed for a six-year term by the monarch, and the prime minister and deputy prime minister are elected by the Staten for four-year terms. The Governor of Aruba is the representative on Aruba of the Dutch head of state ( Queen Beatrix) The legislature or Staten is made up of 21 members elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms.

Aruba's judicial system, which has mainly been derived from the Dutch system, operates independently of the legislature and the executive. Jurisdiction, including appeal, lies with the Common Court of Justice of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles and the Supreme Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

Political conditions

After a break in the coalition between the ruling Aruban People's Party (Arubaanse Volkspartij, AVP) and the Aruban Liberal Organization (Organisashon Liberal Arubano, OLA), the election of July 1998 was pushed forward to December 1997. The Aruban Liberal Organization ( Organisacion Liberal Arubiano) is a liberal Political party in Aruba. Unfortunately, the results were unclear, with no clear mandate for a particular coalition. The AVP announced that they preferred a coalition between the large parties, the MEP and the AVP. The message was not clear enough from the MEP side and the negotiations went sluggish. After more than 6 months of talks, the AVP started negotiations with its previous coalition partner and succeeded to form a weak but stable enough coalition. The MEP remained in the opposition, a place strategically favored by the party leader Nelson (Nel) O. Oduber.
Four years later, in September 2001, the strategy paid off and the MEP won a decisive victory from the opposition. The MEP took 12 of 21 seats to form Aruba's first non-coalition government. The AVP on the other hand lost heavily and retained only 6 seats. The other coalition partner of the AVP OLA, retained only 1 seat. The PPA, which endured two seatless elections, got 2 seats.
After the 2001 election, the AVP leader, Dr. Robertico (Tico) Croes stepped down as party leader and left politics as the result of the election results. He went on to pursue a career in teaching in the United States of America (University of Central Florida).
The AVPAVP underwent a long and arduous restructuring process which included a new party leader, Michiel (Mike) G. Eman, grandson of one of the party founders. In the 2005 elections, the AVP gained seats contrary to most predictions and remained the largest opposition party.
The MEP, on the other hand lost votes, but managed to only lose a single seat, thus remaining in office after the 2005 elections and still as a non-coalition government.
In these elections, however, the PPA and OLA parties lost their seats and other lesser known parties, failed to get enough votes for a seat in the Parliament. The DR party did not win a seat by a very narrow margin. The winning parties (i. e. which gained seats) in the 2005 elections were the AVP RED and the MPA.

After the 2005 elections the PPA all but disappeared from the political scene and the OLA seems have entered an uncertain state, as the party leader publicly acknowledged that he was joining the MEP.
Since 2005 elections, the MEP has been plagued by constant allegations of corruption and scandals. One such allegation resulted in the removal of selected authorities (related to naturalization and immigration) from the Minister of Justice (Hiacinto (Rudy) Croes) by means of a protocol signed by three Dutch Ministers and the government of Aruba.
Another scandal, which has not resulted in a conviction is related to the Minister of Labour. The Minister, T. F. (Ramon) Lee, was publicly accused by a female aide of sexual harassment.
The latest scandal is the result of a bribery letter, the now infamous "Namdar Letter", exposed by a former MEP aide, Michael Williams.

Government

Executive branch

The Governor General is appointed by the monarch for a six-year term. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Fredis Refunjol is the current Governor of Aruba. Governor Refunjol was born in Aruba in 1950 and is married to Clarette Lopez Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The Prime Minister of Aruba is Aruba 's Head of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers they form the Executive branch of Aruban government The People's Electoral Movement ( Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo) is a Social democratic Political party in Aruba. Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar.
The Council of Ministers is elected by the Staten.

Parliament building in Oranjestad

Legislative branch

Aruba elects on national level a legislature. Oranjestad ( English: "Orangetown" with a population of 32748 as of 2008 is the Capital and most important city of Aruba located on the southern A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation The Estates (Staten) have 21 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation with a universal suffrage from 18 years of age. The Estates ( Staten) is the Legislature or Parliament of Aruba. Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes Aruba has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful. A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral

Judicial branch

Joint High Court of Justice (judges are appointed by the monarch)

Political parties and elections

Additional Political Parties

• Aruban Democratic Alliance

International relations

International organization participation: Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), Parlatino, WCL(World Confederation of Labour), WToO (associate) and Caribbean Tourism Organisation. The Estates ( Staten) is the Legislature or Parliament of Aruba. General elections were held in Aruba on 23 September 2005. They were won by the People's Electoral Movement, which took 11 of the 21 seats in The People's Electoral Movement ( Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo) is a Social democratic Political party in Aruba. The Aruban People's Party (AVP ( Arubaanse Volkspartij/Partido di Pueblo Arubano) is a Christian democrat Political party in Aruba. The Aruban Patriot Movement ( Movimento Patriótico Arubano) is a Political party in Aruba, formed by dissidents of the Aruban Patriotic Party Network of Eternal Democracy ( Red Eternal Democratico) is a Political party in Aruba. Real Democracy ( Democracia Real) is a Political party in Aruba. The Aruban Liberal Organization ( Organisacion Liberal Arubiano) is a liberal Political party in Aruba. The Aruban Patriotic Party ( Partido Patriótico Arubano) is a Political party in Aruba. This article lists political parties in Aruba. Aruba has a Multi-party system with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful The Caribbean Community ( CARICOM) is an organization of Caribbean nations and dependencies The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC or ECLAC was established in 1948 (then as the UN Economic Commission for Latin The International Criminal Police Organization, better known by its telegraphic address Interpol is an organization facilitating international police cooperation United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 The Latin American Parliament ( Parlatino) is a regional permanent and Unicameral organism integrated from the National Parliaments of Latin America The United Nations World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO) headquartered in Madrid, Spain, is a United Nations agency dealing with questions relating The Caribbean Tourism Organisation ( CTO) is a Caribbean based joint-coalition of 33 independent committees boards consuls authorities and organisations involved

External links

• AVP Website