Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — By the end of the deadline for registration of political parties on Monday, November 9th, 2015, representatives of 6 political parties appeared before the Electoral Council to apply for registration to be able to participate in the upcoming elections that will take place on February 9th, 2015. These new parties are in order of appearance:
- Helping Our People Excel Association (HOPE)
- Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP)
- Millennial Advancement Party (MAP)
- Maarten Development Movement (SDM)
- Beyond Sint Maarten Development (Beyond SXM)
- People’s Progressive Alliance (P.P.A.)
The parties also applied to register the parties’ references that will be placed above the list of candidates on postulation day, December 22nd, 2015.
The Concordia Political Alliance Association applied to re-register the reference C.P.A. to be placed above its list of candidates after the Electoral Council had to delete the reference since this party did not participate in the elections of August 29th, 2014.
In the coming weeks, the Electoral Council will review all 6 applications and accompanying documents submitted and will examine whether they are all in compliance with the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties.
If there are no objections found to register the political party, both the party as well as the Main Voting Bureau will be notified of the Electoral Council Decisions.
In the event not all requirements laid down in the National Ordinance are met, the Electoral Council will invite the party’s representative to discuss any omissions or errors and the party will be given 7 business days to correct or amend the errors or omissions.
Once these improvements have taken place within the allotted time, the Electoral Council will re-evaluate the improvements for compliance with the National Ordinance. However, if the party does not make the necessary corrections and improvements within the stipulated time, the Electoral Council will not be able to register the party and the party will not be able to contest the upcoming elections of February 9th, 2016.
In such case, the party may file an appeal with the Court of First Instance within 6 days after the Decision of the Electoral Council. The Court’s decision cannot be appealed.
