With Nomination Day less than a week away it appears at least seven parties will be involved, as – in alphabetical order – NA, PFP, PPA, SMCP, UD, UP and US Party have all publicly confirmed their intention to be on the ballot come January 9, while SDM was yet to do so. Of these, only NA, SMCP, UD and US Party are currently represented in Parliament, which means the others will need to gather 136 voter endorsement signatures on their lists the next day to qualify.
So, there should be plenty to choose from in terms of parties but also individual politicians, considering that politics in St. Maarten are rather personalised. Contributing to the latter is the fact that each party’s seats are allocated based on number of personal votes and not the position on the list as is the case in the other Dutch Caribbean countries unless the lower-ranked candidate outright earns a seat on his or her own. The so-called “Lynch Law” passed here to seemingly make the system more democratic has in practice not led to well-structured party organisations and leadership.
Now again various politicians are changing allegiance going into the campaign period, some suggest for less-than-credible reasons. In the recent past reference was even made to “list-shopping,” with high-profile candidates choosing which party gives them the best chance to get elected into the lucrative legislative office.
This, in addition to vote- and alleged seat-buying as well as “ship-jumping”, doesn’t exactly promote political stability, which has proven extremely elusive since country status was gained per 10-10-10. The dual system of government introduced then whereby ministers cannot be part of Parliament, while it used to even be a requirement for half the commissioners to also be in the Island Council, played a role in the confusion of the past nine years too.
But all that is what it is, and people should still make use of the sacred right to elect their representatives; if needed, by “process of elimination”. Decide what party and/or which candidate you would certainly not vote for and continue until the most acceptable remaining option becomes clear.
Keep in mind what they say: The two main priorities of a politician are to get into office and to stay there.
