Island council elections were held in the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

on 29 April ( ABC islands) and 6 May 1983 ( SSS islands) to elect the members of the

island councils An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be calle ...

of its six island territories. The election was won by the

People's Electoral Movement The People's Electoral Movement (''Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo'', MEP) is a left-wing political party in Venezuela, founded in 1967 by Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa. The MEP was founded after Prieto Figueroa won the 1967 Acción Democráti ...

(13 seats) in

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

, the Bonaire Democratic Party (5 seats) in

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

, the New Antilles Movement (8 seats) in

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, the

Windward Islands People's Movement The Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM) is a political party in Saba, which held all five seats in the Island Council after the 2019 elections and until June 1, 2022, when council member Hemmie Van Xanten resigned from the party while contin ...

(4 seats) in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia (3 seats) in

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially " public body") of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, so ...

, and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(5 seats) in Sint Maarten.

Shooting of Betico Croes

During the campaign in Aruba, an incident occurred at an illegally organized car parade of the

(MEP) in Santa Cruz on 24 April 1983. The rally was to be held on the same day as the car parade of the

Aruban People's Party The Aruban People's Party (AVP; nl, Arubaanse Volkspartij, pap, Partido di Pueblo Arubano) is a Christian-democratic political party in Aruba founded in 1942. AVP is an acronym for the Dutch name of the party. At the 2001 elections, on 28 Sept ...

(AVP), but unlike the AVP, the MEP did not have permission from the local police. When MEP leader

Betico Croes Gilberto François "Betico" Croes (; 25 January 1938 – 26 November 1986) was an Aruban political activist who was a proponent for Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles. This eventually occurred in 1986, but following a car accident o ...

began mobilizing 500 cars for the parade, a

warning shot In military and police contexts, a warning shot is an intentionally harmless artillery shot or gunshot with intent to enact direct compliance and order to a hostile perpetrator or enemy forces. It is recognized as signalling intended confronta ...

was fired by a police officer. A second shot hit Croes in the abdomen. Croes was taken to the Dr. Horacio E. Oduber Hospital in Oranjestad, where his spleen was removed and the bleeding was stopped. Directly after the shooting, riots occurred, in response to which

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Pedro Bislip Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

ordered to close all bars and prohibit the sale of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

on the island until further notice. Five days later, the MEP won the election with 57.9% of the popular vote.

Results

Aruba

Bonaire

Curaçao

Saba

The result was a victory for the

, which won four of the five seats in the

Island Council of Saba The Island Council of Saba is the legislative body of the Dutch Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality of Saba (island), Saba. It consists of five members and elections take place every four years. The Island Council appoints and supervises ...

Sint Eustatius

Sint Maarten

The Island Council seats increased from five to seven. The result was a victory for the

, which won five of the seven Island Council seats.

References

{{Navboxes , title = Local elections and referendums in the Netherlands Antilles , state = collapsed , titlestyle = , list1 = {{Aruban elections {{Bonaire elections {{Curaçao elections {{Saba elections {{Sint Eustatius elections {{Sint Maarten elections 1983 elections in the Caribbean 1983 in the Netherlands Antilles April 1983 events in North America May 1983 events in North America Elections in the Netherlands Antilles Elections in Aruba Elections in Bonaire Elections in Curaçao Elections in Saba (island) Elections in Sint Eustatius Elections in Sint Maarten