Dear Editor,
Please permit me to express my views as a young person who is into research and understanding the dynamics of politics. I learned that unlike Aruba and Curaçao, St. Maarten did not make the number of seats in Parliament match that of their former Island Council upon attaining an autonomous status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010.
Unlike Aruba and Curaçao which consisted of 21 Island Council members, St. Maarten had a total of 11 Island Council members, but chose instead to have a parliament of 15 seats based on the population size. An 11-seat parliament would have been extremely hard for new parties to reach the seat quota which is the total of valid votes divided by available seats. This link between the size of Parliament and the size of the population can be seen in Article 8 of the Dutch Municipalities Act, which states: “The size of the Municipal Council is determined by the population of the municipality”.
Article 45 in our Constitution also clearly states that Parliament will consist of 15 members if the population is 60,000 or less, but it will be increased to 17 members if the population is more than 60,000. Article 45 further states that “An increase or reduction in the number of Members of Parliament arising from a change in the population of the country first takes effect on the next regular election of Parliament.”
In June 2010, St. Maarten had a total number of 53,653 registered inhabitants; therefore, it satisfied Article 45 of the Constitution. But recent updates show that St. Maarten now has a total of 61,723 registered inhabitants. Based on Article 45 of our Constitution and Article 8 of the Dutch Municipalities Act, our parliament should increase by two members at the next “regular” elections, bringing it to 17.
So I would like to know if this increase in the number of seats in Parliament will take place after this election or will it be overlooked because of snap elections?
Article 59 of the Constitution instructs that a new parliament must be in place within three months after the dissolution of Parliament on September 23, 2019; hence the initial date for Parliamentary elections being November 25. This would have seen a new Parliament installed by December 23, 2019.
Since, according to the former prime minister, there is a lack of alignment between the electoral law and Article 59 of the Constitution, the elections date of November 25 has been thrown out with a new one set for January 2020.
At this point, we the people of St. Maarten need an interpretation of the word “regular” from the architects of our Constitution as we move forward in electing the 10th Parliament in as many years. Do we stick to 15 seats or has the time come for us to increase by two?
Omar Ottley
