Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- While the political climate in St. Eustatius is always quite volatile, 2020 turns out to be an especially turbulent year.

After Koos Sneek in a surprise move decide to declare himself independent a mere week after the election of October 21, yesterday UPC-leader Elvin Henriquez declared that he was resigning from the list of the United People’s Coalition (UPC).

“Today, Monday November 16th 2020 after meeting with the UPC board and co-owner I have decided to relinquish my membership and in extension returned the temporary leadership to the party. This decision came after much discussion and thought as a result of no longer having trust and confidence in the co-owner and board member added to lack of communication and disagreements”, according to a statement by Elvin Henriquez on his personal Facebook Page.

Nova and Richardson

The BES-Reporter on Tuesday afternoon spoke to Henriquez, who did not want to provide additional comments on the issue. “I refer to what I have stated on Facebook”, said Henriquez.

Interestingly enough, Henriquez also added that alle three candidates of the UPC in the latest election, being himself, Carmen Nova Bonilla and Daniela Richardson had decided to resign ‘en block’. This was later confirmed to the BES-Reporter by Richardson.

Henriquez also added that his resignation from UPC did not mean that he would pull back from politics in St. Eustatius. Henriquez said he was still pondering his way forward after the latest development.

The move by Henriquez, Bonilla and Richardson means that the UPC now is all but dead and a mere skeleton of its former past. Although the party was ever very big, they could be considered a factor of influence in local Statia politics.

Seats

The UPC did not win any seats in the October 21, 2020 elections on St. Eustatius. The move by Elvin, Nova and Richardson will therefor not have any consequences for the Island Council. The party however had announced after the elections that they would continue as a political party and would follow developments outside of local parliament. While this may be true for Elvin and his 2 fellow candidates, the question is if UPC will continue to exist at all.

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