Esther Bernabela

Esther Bernabela is a Dutch doctor and politician who served as a member of the Island Council of Bonaire as both a member of the Bonaire Patriotic Union (UPB) and as an independent. She was a leader in the UPB before leaving the party in protest of James Kroon. She provided support for a coalition for a Bonaire People's Movement government led by Elvis Tjin Asjoe from 2016 to 2017. She operated a clinic in Bonaire until her retirement in 2022.

Career

Bernabela ran a clinic in Bonaire until her retirement on 31 August 2022.^[1]

In the 2015 election Bernabela was elected to one of the nine seats of the Island Council of Bonaire as a member of the Bonaire Patriotic Union (UPB).^[2] She held a leadership position in the UPB and was one of multiple UPB leaders to leave the party in protest of James Kroon's leadership.^[3]

On 29 April 2016, Bernabela left the UPB and sat on the Island Council as an independent.^[4] In 2016, she provided support for a coalition government led by Elvis Tjin Asjoe, a member of the Bonaire People's Movement.^[5][6] This coalition government lasted until 2017, when Asjoe formed a new coalition with independent councillors Clark Abraham and Jeanoushka Raphaela. Asjoe ended his coalition with Bernabela and Kroon stating that he was unable to work with them.^[7]

Political positions

Bernabela called for statistics on alcohol abuse to collected and published by the state. She also called for bars to be required to have signs up stating that the sale of alcohol and its consumption by minors is illegal.^[8] She supported subsidising a bus system for children.^[9]