Misplaced Pages

Politics of the Netherlands Antilles

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Political system of the Netherlands Antilles
Politics of the Netherlands Antilles
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Related topics

The politics of the Netherlands Antilles, a former constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, existed in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic country, in which the prime minister was the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power was exercised by the government. Federal legislative power was vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary was independent of the executive and the legislature. The Netherlands Antilles had full autonomy on most matters. Exceptions were defence, foreign affairs, and the Supreme Court.

Executive power rested with a governor, and a prime minister headed an eight-member Cabinet. The governor was appointed for a six-year term by the monarch, and the prime minister and deputy prime minister were elected by the Staten for four-year terms. The legislature or Staten elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms.

The judicial system, which had mainly been derived from the Dutch system, operated independently of the legislature and the executive. Jurisdiction, including appeal, lied with the Common Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba and the Supreme Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands Antilles were disbanded on 10 October 2010.

Executive branch

Main office holders
Office Name Party Since Until
Monarch Beatrix 30 April 1980 10 October 2010
Governor Frits Goedgedrag 1 July 2002 10 October 2010
Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage PAR 26 March 2006 10 October 2010

The Governor was appointed by the monarch for a six-year term.
The Council of Ministers was elected by the Staten.

Legislative branch

Unicameral Estates of the Netherlands Antilles (22 seats; members were elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties in the Netherlands Antilles. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the Netherlands Antilles.

Political parties were indigenous to each island.

Judicial branch

Joint High Court of Justice, judges appointed by the monarch

Administrative divisions

The Antilles were divided into five insular territories: Curaçao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius. On 10 October 2010 the Netherlands Antilles were disbanded.

Reform

Main article: Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles

International organization participation

Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WMO, WToO (associate)

References

  1. "End of the road for Dutch Antilles < Dutch news". Expatica The Netherlands. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
Politics of the Caribbean
West
Indies
Antilles
Greater
Antilles
Hispaniola
Lesser
Antilles
Leeward
Islands
Saint Martin
Virgin Islands
Southern
Caribbean
Leeward
Antilles
ABC islands
Windward
Islands
Lucayan
Archipelago
  • Bahamas
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
    • Caribbean
    Sea
    Caribbean
    continental
    zone
    Central America
    South America
    Wider
    groupings
    may include:
    Yucatán Peninsula
    The Guianas
    N.B.: Territories in italics are parts of transregional sovereign states or non-sovereign dependencies.

    These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands.

    Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.

    Disputed territories administered by Guyana. Disputed territories administered by Colombia.

    Bermuda is an isolated North Atlantic oceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.
    Politics of North America
    Sovereign states
    Dependencies and
    other territories
    Politics of South America
    Sovereign states
    Dependencies and
    other territories
    Category: