ORANJESTAD– There will be three familiar faces and two new ones when members of the new Island Council take the oath of office on Wednesday 29 March 2023. The Progressive Labor Party ( PLP) retained control of the local legislature by securing over 55 per cent of the 1759 votes cast in the 15 March 2023 Island Council election. This translates into three seats in the five-member legislature.
When the new council sits for the first time on Wednesday, the PLP will be represented by Rechelline Leerdam, Reuben Merkman and Clyde van Putten, all of whom sat in the outgoing Island Council. The Democratic Party (DP), which secured about 38 per cent of the votes cast in the election, hold the remaining two seats. The DP will be represented by newcomers Rachel Spanner-Carty and Mercedes Lopes-Spanner. The term of office of the new Island Council is four years and will end in 2027.
Last meeting
Wednesday’s swearing in follows the final meeting of the current chamber, which was installed on 29 October 2020 – the first to sit in since the administrative intervention by Netherlands in 2018. The final sitting on Tuesday 28 March was the last for Adelka Spanner of the DP and Nicolaas Sneek of the Christian Democratic Appeal, which failed to garner sufficient votes in the election to gain a seat.
