General elections were held in

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

on 22 November 1985 to elect the Island Council. They were held shortly before

was split from the Netherlands Antilles and obtained the status of a 'land' (country) within the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

. The Island Council was converted into the first

Estates of Aruba The Parliament of Aruba (, ) is the unicameral legislature or parliament of Aruba. The parliament has 21 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Each member holds their seats until the parliament is dissolved, whic ...

on 1 January 1986. Although the People's Electoral Movement won the most seats, the

Aruban People's Party The Aruban People's Party (AVP; , ) 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 in Aruba, elections, on 28 September 2001, the party won 26.7% of po ...

formed a coalition government with the

Aruban Patriotic Party The Aruban Patriotic Party ( Papiamento: ''Partido Patriotico di Aruba'', PPA; ) is a political party in Aruba. It was founded in 1949. Prior to Aruba's status aparte, it was a supporter of a unified, independent Netherlands Antilles. In the 2 ...

, Aruban Democratic Party and

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

, with

Henny Eman Jan Hendrik Albert "Henny" Eman (20 March 1948 – 6 January 2025) was an Aruban politician who served as the 1st Prime Minister of Aruba from 1986 to 1989 and again from 1994 to 2001. Introduction Jan Hendrik Albert Eman, simply known as H ...

becoming the first

Prime Minister of Aruba The prime minister of Aruba (; ) is de facto head of the executive branch of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers, they form the executive branch of Aruban government. List of prime ministers of Aruba

Government of Ar ...

.Aruba General Election Results - 22 November 1985
Caribbean Elections

Results

References

{{Netherlands Antilles elections 1985 in Aruba

Elections in Aruba Election and referendum articles with incomplete results November 1985 in North America