WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao’s parliamentary election scheduled for Friday has been postponed due to the expected passage of Hurricane Matthew north of the island late Thursday, it was decided during a meeting of the Supreme Electoral Council with all political parties involved.

The election will now take place on Wednesday, October 5.

 

The Council had suggested Friday, October 7, but most parties did not want to wait that long. Government then chose Wednesday, October 5, as the best option.

 

The weather predictions for Thursday night and Friday included a lot of wind and particularly rain, which is why it was considered prudent to delay the vote. Major feeder bands were forecast early Friday morning, in the afternoon and again during the evening.

 

Already Thursday morning several schools had closed early and requested that parents pick up their children due to heavy showers that caused flooding in various areas. Banks and various other businesses also closed at noon, as did the US Consulate General in Willemstad.

 

Schools are normally closed on Election Day and will remain closed today, Friday. Government employees “where the service permits” may also stay home to take care of their families and property. This is obviously not the case for emergency and other essential personnel in a potential disaster situation.

 

The private sector was asked to follow this example when possible based on common sense. Prime Minister Ben Whiteman mentioned that, for example, supermarkets should be open so that people can buy emergency supplies, with skeleton crews if needed.

 

He also said the Council of Ministers was to submit its resignation to Governor Lucille George-Wout on Thursday and take on caretaker status as is normal on the eve of elections, so this will now be done Tuesday.

 

Local airline InselAir managed to get most flights out on Thursday with some delays due to the weather, but the return leg from Miami was cancelled because it would arrive back in Curaçao too late to land safely. For the same reason the Curaçao-St. Maarten-Dominican Republic-St. Maarten-Curaçao route was shortened by skipping the second stop at Princess Juliana International Airport SXM.

 

InselAir was busy Thursday evening taking all its planes that had completed their daily schedule to Valencia, Venezuela, for safekeeping. No flights will be executed by the carrier today, Friday, and the situation is to be evaluated Saturday morning.

 

Authorities are operating on a “worst case scenario” basis, as up to 300 millimetres of rain could not be excluded. Ditches, canals, drains and especially ducts have been cleared to prevent the water-runoff systems from clogging as much as possible.

 

A total of 13 parties will now be competing next week Wednesday for 21 seats in the legislature during the next four years.