RSM leader Louis Mussington is mobbed by supporters outside Hôtel de la Collectivité last night after winning the first round of the 2022 Territorial Council election by the narrowest of margins. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Louis Mussington’s Rassemblement St. Martinois (RSM) won the first round of the 2022 Territorial Council elections in Marigot last night by the slimmest of margins, in a round that was very close to call.
Once ballots were counted from all 19 voting stations, RSM came out in the lead with 2,128 votes, 54 ahead of Team Gibbs with 2,074. It became clear throughout the day that these two parties would be the front-runners.
Generation Hope (Jules Charville) won 1,465 votes, followed by Saint-Martin avec vous (Jacques Hamlet) with 1,155 votes. Alternative party (Valérie Damaseau) collected 934 votes and Avenir Saint-Martin 626 votes.
A total of 8,707 votes were cast; 8,382 legitimate votes and 325 blank votes. The participation rate was 46.62 per cent and abstention rate 53.38 per cent.
With RSM not obtaining a majority, the election goes to a second and final round on Sunday, March 27.
“I’m very pleased with the results tonight. It’s only the first victory and not the final one so we have to get back to work as early as tomorrow morning,” said Mussington, surrounded by jubilant supporters. “We’re open to dialogue with other parties, that’s for sure. We’ll be hard to work to achieve victory next Sunday.”
Team Gibbs and RSM were tied on 101 votes apiece in polling station 12 (French Quarter) and in Grand Case (polling station 11) tied on 93 each. But team Gibbs was far ahead at polling station 17 (Elie Gibs School, Grand Case) with 150 votes to RSM’s 27 and in polling station one (Hotel de la Collectivité) with 114 votes. The two rivals were very close again at the Cité Scolaire polling stations.
Saint Martin avec vous (Jacques Hamlet) captured the second most votes in French Quarter (Omer Arrondell polling station) with 123 votes, behind RSM with 150. Hamlet also did well at polling station 12 in French Quarter, accumulating 98 votes. Generation Hope was the clear winner at polling station 11 (Ghislaine Rogers school, Grand Case) with 117 votes.
The Préfecture said final confirmation of the first-round results will be given today, Monday. A giant screen to show the results from each polling station as they came in was set up for the population outside Hôtel de la Collectivité.
