Head of the Council Bert Hofman confirmed to 721 news that the USP owes the council Naf 3000 guilders for not bringing the documents before the deadline. The documents were brought in to the council by a member of the board. In their press release the council stated that despite numerous reminders before and after the deadline for registered political parties to submit their annual reports before April 1, 2015 the United St. Maarten Party (USP) failed to submit its annual report and financial statements. Therefore, USP has not complied with one of the most important legal obligations of political parties stipulated in the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties.
On May 19, 2015, the Electoral Council sent a letter to USP leader, Frans Richardson and its board informing them that the Electoral Council was considering to issue an order under penalty as is stipulated in Article 44 of the National Ordinance. USP was granted the opportunity to respond to the Council’s impending order no later than Wednesday, May 27 as well as the opportunity to submit its annual report no later than Friday, May 29. The USP was informed by the Electoral Council on May 29, the order under penalty has commenced on Saturday, May 30.
Political parties, that submitted their annual report and financial statements by April 1, 2015 without the auditor’s report, have been requested by the Electoral Council to submit the required auditor’s report and in some cases additional financial information to the Electoral Council by June 4 this year. No word yet from the USP Party about the fine given to them.
