Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen (see Thursday paper) confirmed that the number of Island Council members will increase from the current five to nine in Saba and to 11 in St. Eustatius per 2027 when the next local election is scheduled. Both islands will also go from two to three commissioners, all based on their populations last year.
The third public entity of the Caribbean Netherlands, Bonaire, will see a phased expansion from nine Island Council seats to 15 in four years and again to 19 for 2031. The number of commissioners there is also increasing, first from three to four and then to five.
St. Maarten could have faced a similar situation already for early next year’s parliamentary election. According to article 45 of the country’s constitution, in case of between 60,000 and 70,000 residents the legislature will consist of 17 members, rather then the present 15.
At the end of October 2019 there were 61,750 persons in the civil registry, of whom 23,130 were adult Dutch nationals with voting rights. However, because the January 2020 elections were early or so-called “snap” instead of regular, no change was made.
Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs during last week’s 2023 budget debate explained that 3,908 persons so far had been de-registered as part of a process to clean up the files that started in September. She said the number of residents had peaked at 62,368 in November, but now stood at 58,277.
The process – including looking into expired residence permits – was still very much ongoing, but it is likely to reduce rather than increase that number as more names are removed. In other words, unless there is a significant spike in legal immigration by the time the voter register closes next October, such an expansion is most probably not going to happen.
While one can understand a need to complete the exercise and ensure accurate data, clarity on this issue should be provided as soon as possible so political parties and their individual candidates but also the public know what to expect and prepare for.
