After the Democratic Party and Empire Culture Empowerment (ECE) Association registered with the Electoral Council (see Friday/Saturday edition), a dozen parties are eligible for January’s elections. At least three of these, Concordia Political Alliance (CPA), United Democrats (UD) and St. Maarten Christian Party (SMPC) have given no indication of wanting to participate.
Of the remaining nine, only those with current parliamentary representation are guaranteed a spot on the ballot. It regards National Alliance (NA), United People’s (UP) party, Party for Progress (PFP) and United St. Maarten Party (US Party).
The other five, Democratic Party, ECE, People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA), Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) and United Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM), must first have their candidate lists endorsed by 1% of the most recent valid turnout. That might not seem too difficult, but has proven a hurdle in the past.
Even when overcoming such, getting voted into office is by no means a forgone conclusion. For one thing, parties must earn their first seat outright before they can qualify for a possible residual seat. This threshold intended to prevent political fragmentation has kept various aspiring leaders from entering the legislature over the years, at times by a mere handful of votes.
Based on the latest population figures the number of seats being contested will likely remain 15. A possible expansion to 17 in case the number of inhabitants surpasses a legally set limit could have worked in favour of especially so-called smaller parties.
Since 10-10-10 several parties campaigned for an absolute majority, but so far none achieved such. This avoids having to form governing coalitions with others and allows the biggest party to execute their programme without need for compromise.
However, some suggest – based on results so far – that’s not what voters want, because it would concentrate power in the hands of one party too much, leaving little in the way of checks and balances.
It should be interesting to see how this matter is again approached in the run-up to the election.
