At stake in this election:

• 21 seats in the Legislature (Staten)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen BEATRIX *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Nelson O. ODUBER
• Assembly: Aruba has a unicameral Legislature (Staten) with 21 seats.

* The Queen is represented by Governor General Fredis REFUNJOL (since 11 May 2004).

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen is the hereditary head of state.
• The Prime Minister is elected by parliament to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Legislature (Staten) 21 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There is one nationwide district. The electoral system is open list PR. Party lists may contain up to 29 candidates.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: People's Electoral Movement / Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (MEP)
  • Leader: Nelson O.Oduber
  • Seats won in this election: 8
• Party: Aruban People's Party / Arubaanse Volkspartij/Partido di Pueblo Arubano (AVP)
  • Leader: Mike Eman
  • Seats won in this election: 12
• Party: Aruban Patriotic Movement / Movimento Patriótico Arubano (MPA)
  • Leader: Monica Arends-Knock
  • Seats won in this election: 0
• Party: Real Democracy Party / Democracia Real (DR)
  • Seats won in this election: 1
• Party: Network of Electoral Democracy / Red Electoral Democratic (RED)
  • Seats won in this election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 103,065 (July 2009 est.)