PHILIPSBURG:--- A press release issued by the Electoral Council on Sunday has left a number of people including political leaders amazed. Information provided to SMN News shows that eight political parties registered with the Electoral Council to contest the 2014 Parliamentary Elections, even though no Landsbesluit to establish August 29th, 2014 as the official election date has been published in the National Gazette. Unless it has been published elsewhere and SMN News missed it. If the latter is true then we are calling on the Prime Minister of St. Maarten to send an official release of the LB to calm the storm that is slowly brewing.
SMN News understands that three political parties registered shortly after the Electoral Council was installed, they are the United People's Party (UPP), Citizens for Positive Change (CPC), and Social Reform Party (SRP). On Tuesday last week, one day before the deadline set by the Electoral Council, three political parties registered, they are the One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP), National Alliance (NA) and the Democratic Party (DP). On Wednesday May 28th, 2014 the deadline date issued by the Electoral Council two other political parties registered before the 5pm hour. They are United St. Maarten People's Party (USP) and the Concordia Political Alliance (CPA).
One newspaper on St. Maarten published in their Monday's newspaper that USP headed by MP Frans Richardson did not register his party for the 2014 elections. MP Richardson who is currently in the Netherlands said he registered his party on Tuesday just prior to the National Alliance, he said he has his receipt and even photos to prove his registration. MP Richardson said the only problem he had when he went to register his political party is that the members of the Electoral Council stated that the name of his party has too many letters since the law states that the names of political parties cannot have more than 15 characters. Richardson said at that point he told the council that he will only use USP instead of the full name. He said the council accepted his registration and told him they will get back to him.
More astonishing for Richardson is that a reporter from the newspaper that published that he did not register his party sent him BBM message and asked him Sunday night if he registered his party and he replied to her confirming that he registered his party on Tuesday.
Since there is so much brewing as to which of the parties managed to register their party before the May 28th deadline, SMN News is now wondering if the figure mentioned in the press release of the Electoral Council was an honest mistake or if they are purposely releasing false information to the public. As a media outlet we are therefore calling on the Electoral Council to confirm exactly how many political parties registered for the 2014 Parliamentary Election. The Electoral Council issued a press release on Monday evening giving clarification on how many political parties registered for the 2014 Parliamentary Elections. The press release has been published below this article.
Clarification on registration of political parties.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Since its establishment, the Electoral Council has been diligent in providing accurate information to the public in a manner that minimizes all ambiguity or controversy. For this reason, the Electoral Council has been very hesitant to publicize the names of political parties that applied for registration or that were registered.
However, recent reports seem to have created anxiety in the community during this historic electoral process. In order to stem unnecessary speculations and concerns, the Electoral Council would like to give clarity in regards to the registration of the political parties to the general public.
Both the United People's Party (UP) and the Citizens for Positive (CPC) have completed their registration process and have been registered by the Electoral Council since April 2014. Also, the Social Reform Party (SRP), which had attempted to register before the establishment of the Council, was also registered by the Electoral Council after completing the registration process.
After the announcement of the deadline for registration, five (5) political parties applied for registration last week to be able to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. These parties are: the Democratic Party (DP), the United St. Maarten Party (USP), the One St. Maarten People Party (O.S.P.P.), the National Alliance (NA), and the Concordia Political Alliance (CPA).
The Electoral Council would like to emphasize that an application for registration, as in the cases of the aforementioned parties, does not automatically mean that the party is registered. There is a registration process which includes the review of the application to ensure that the party complies with the law. Therefore, the applications and accompanying documents of the 5 parties that applied for registration last week, are now under review by the Electoral Council.
After review of the documents received, the Electoral Council will contact these parties to notify them of its findings.
In the event, no objections can be found to register these parties according to the requirements laid down in the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, there is a possibility that 8 political parties will contest in the upcoming Parliamentary elections on St. Maarten.
Press Release from the Electoral Council
